The Ministry of Education (MoE) has directed students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) deferred for non-payment of their fees to strive to access the Students Loan Trust Fund.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister, said the affected students could access the loans without any guarantor, saying, the management of the Fund had been directed to engage the affected students for the necessary support.
The students have been given an additional four weeks within which to settle their arrears in accordance with the 70 per cent fee payment plan instituted by the University, to have the deferment reverted, the Minister noted.
Dr Adutwum, speaking to the media in Kumasi, on Friday, after a stakeholders’ meeting at the KNUST Council Chamber, said the government would offer the necessary help to give a lifeline to the affected students.
The meeting had in attendance representatives of the University Governing Council, Management and Academic Board, Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and Students Loan Trust Fund, Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG).
KNUST deferred students
It was called at the instance of the MoE to discuss the possible ways of assisting the over 6,000 KNUST students whose courses were deferred for defaulting in the payment of their school fees.
The University’s Academic Board had given the students up to April 11, this year, as the deadline to settle their arrears, but failed to do so for varied reasons.
Dr Adutwum lauded KNUST Management for agreeing to extend the deadline for payment of the fees by four more weeks to help the affected students write the impending examinations, which will commence on May 21.
He also lauded the SRC for setting up a Help Desk at the KNUST Dean of Students Office to address the needs of the affected students.
Dr Daniel Norris Bekoe, the University Relations Officer, in an interview, on the sidelines of the stakeholders’ meeting, described the meeting as fruitful since it discussed the welfare of the students.
Master Michael Abuah, the KNUST SRC President, also in an interview, lauded the MoE for engaging the students to address their grievances.
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