LOW TURNOUT OF TERTIARY STUDENTS IN WESTERN REGION

The Takoradi Technical University and the Ghana Telecom University have recorded low turnout of students despite President Akufo-Addo’s call for final year students to go back to school to write their exit examination.

The President in his 10th and 11th Covid-19 address to the nation, eased restrictions on education and explicitly explained why final year students had to return to school.

This notwithstanding, many final year students in the Region have not reported to their various campuses.

There seems to be great fear for the possibility of mass spread of the Covid-19 on Campus.

In an interview with a cross section of the students, Mr Joseph Adusei, a student at the Electrical Department of the Takoradi Technical University, indicated that some students were waiting to confirm the viability of the measures put in place by the University management before going to school.

He said the University had however adequately prepared for the reopening of the school, noting that Veronica buckets have been placed at vantage points on the campus and the seating arrangements have changed in the lecture halls to ensure Social distancing.

Mr Ansah Emmanuel, another student, explained that only a small population of those on campus were students who had travelled in from other towns, but that majority of the students were those who stay in Takoradi and its environs.


For her part, Nana Yaa Ampomaa of the Ghana Telecom University, said just a handful of students had reported, but that the school had done everything to implement the safety protocols.

“Management has provided Veronica buckets, thermometer guns, and sanitizer to make us feel safe,” she added.

The Vice Chancellor of the Takoradi Technical University, Reverend Professor John Frank Eshun, in an interview, announced that the University received 4,214 nose masks, 4,214 hand sanitizers, 30 bundles of tissue papers, 15 Veronica buckets and thermometer guns among others from the government.

He said they were also expecting about 9,000 personal protective equipment and other logistics.

Rev. Eshun said the University management for the meantime, had set aside the University’s clinic as an isolation center and urged all final year students to play their part by observing all the safety measures.