The students demonstrators
The Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has been closed down temporarily due to a demonstration by some students who were denied access to write the ongoing end of first semester examination.
Top-up and Master’s students numbering more than 200 were denied access from writing the exams because they did not make full payment of their schools fee.
The action infuriated the affected students who vowed to prevent their colleagues from writing the next paper which was supposed to start at 1:00 p.m. yesterday.
The management of the institute later announced that it has temporarily put on hold the writing of the second paper and asked students to go home as the next information shall be communicated to them.
The students told The Ghanaian Times they have paid more than 80 per cent of their school fees but authorities of the school insisted they must make full payment of the fees before they would be allowed entry and were thus denied access to the examination halls on Saturday and Sunday.
A level 300 student who pleaded anonymity said she paid all the required school fees and submitted the receipts to the finance department but could not register online.
According to her, she went to the academic department to report her inability to access the portal which she was given the assurance she would be allowed to write the examination.
She said despite the assurance her name and index number was skipped from the list of eligible students who took part in the French and Political Communication subjects on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Another student said “I have paid almost all my fees and I am left with just GH¢100.00 but they prevented me from writing.”
“We promised to pay next semester but they said they won’t allow us to write,” said another.
The implications are that, those students who did not write the examination would have to wait for the next academic year before they can write.
This was due to the new rule instituted by the new Rector, Kwamena Quansah Aidoo who abolished re-sit examination for students who failed any of their papers with what he described as retake.
The irate students took over the campus chanting “the rector must go, the rector must go” to register their displeasure about the decision.
But a quick response by police personnel present prevented what could have led to causing damage to the institute’s property.
Normally one is required to pay 80 per cent of his or her fees but that was changed suddenly insisting the students must pay full fees before they are allowed entry to the exams hall.
GIJ is set to be merged with the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and the Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL) under the name National Institute of Communication and Media Arts.
The government says the merger of the three institutions forms part of its commitment to expand tertiary education opportunities to meet increasing demand and the skill needs of the country.
Of the three institutions, only GIJ has been granted a Presidential Charter to award its own degrees, diplomas, and certificates for programmes accredited by the National Accreditation Board, while NAFTI does so due to its affiliation with the University of Ghana.
FROM DAVID KODJO
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