The management of the University of Ghana has clarified the recent adjustments in the academic facility user for 2022/2023, explaining that the new fee is cumulative of the suspended implementation of the fees which were approved in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 academic years.
The management of the University has been accused of adjustingfees to more than 15 per cent recently approved by parliament.
But in a statement dated January 2, 2023, signed and issued by the Registrar, Mrs Emelia Agyei-Mensah, the University of Ghana management explained that in 2020, “with the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, coupled with its associated challenges, Management accepted a plea from the student leadership (SRC and GRASAG) to further suspend the implementation of the parliamentary approved and gazetted fees until the 2021/2022 academic year.”
In effect, the University of Ghana charged students subsidized fees for 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 academic years, rather than the approved rates.
Following all the necessary internal consultations and approval by the University Council, on December 13, 2022, the University announced that due to the increasing cost of operations, it had become necessary for the University to implement 2019/2020 approved fees.
It said: “on 21st December 2022, the University received a letter from GTEC [Ghana Tertiary Education Commission] dated 16th December 2022, communicating that Parliament had approved an upward review of academic fees by …15% of the last approved rates”.
Per this, the management urged students and all stakeholders not to be misled into assuming that the new fees announced were in breach of the 15 per cent approval granted by Parliament recently.
Rather, the 15 per cent, adds up to the 5 per cent approved in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic years, whose implementation was all suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
