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Okudzeto pleads with students to remain calm

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in a petition Tuesday, expressed concern about attempts by the Vice Chancellors, Ghana (VCG) and the government to compel students to pay utility bills.

Deputy minister of Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

A deputy minister of Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has asked student leaders in the country to be calm as the government takes steps to resolve an impasse between the students and their institutions over the payment of utility bills.

The NUGS said making students to pay utility bills was additional financial cost for students, especially for the ordinary Ghanaian student.

The student body, therefore, encouraged VCG to seek ways of making the government pay utility bills instead of passing them on to the students.

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However, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the Chief of Staff would convene a meeting with the student leaders, their schools, the Power Ministry and the ECG to resolve the impasse.

“We are appealing to the student leaders to stay calm. We’ve spoken to them… they should not picket or demonstrate or carry out any of the threats they are putting out,” he told Accra-based Radio Gold.

According to Mr Ablakwa, Cabinet’s decision is that education and health institutions are to be exempted from the ongoing ECG disconnection exercise.

The decision for students to pay utility bills came out on March 25, 2015 at a meeting which drew stakeholders in tertiary education to one auditorium at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

The directive for students of public tertiary institutions to pay utility bills will take effect from the 2016/17 academic year.

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Meanwhile, the administrators of some tertiary institutions have asked their students to pay utility bills to defray their debt as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) plans to disconnect defaulting educational institutions from the national grid.

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