The accommodation situation in our universities is dire. There are few bed spaces in universities and colleges in the country, compared with a large student population in our universities.
There are self-sponsored students, who provide the much-needed resources for the development and sustenance of the institutions’ operations. Across town at much-needed of Ghana, KNUST etc the students not living on campus seek accommodation in the crowded areas the and crime infested neighbourhood located outside the universities main campus, remain the preferred area of choices for our innocent students. The proliferation of private universities and colleges in the cities without recreational space or accommodation has led to a situation where students mostly while away the time on the streets and other places as they wait for their next class. Our Universities cannot house even a quarter of our secondary school graduates.
With the introduction of the Free Secondary Education programme, intake in our universities is going to increase and most campuses are going to face major constraints with regard to teaching space, accommodation etc.
The projected increase in student population as a result of the Free Secondary Education programme is going to create a conducive market for investment in housing, but questions have arisen regarding quality. But while it might look like only the students would be affected, the lecturers are already not having it easy and not going to have it easy either. Some of the unhoused lecturers commute few kilometres daily to work.
Many campuses still lack effective services such as security, water to match the demand. This is why many students are living in people’s living room, servants quarters and verandas. Some of these places lack security, adequate water supply and electricity.
Funding higher and tertiary education has emerged as one of the biggest concerns in Ghana, with the surge in student numbers. Government subsidies are no longer enough forcing some of the universities to look else where for support. If these crucial problems are not addressed quickly, politicians will make their political gains from the introduction of their vote-winning populist policies. But their policies will hamper our ability to produce top-notch graduates. Issues such as inadequate capacity, a mismatch between the skills acquired and the demands of the job market, gender imbalance, rigid admission criteria etc will cripple the sector.
We risk gaining all the political advantages and admitting more students into the system while not dealing with the basic problems of the quality of graduates coming out of our universities.
THE MAHAMA FACTOR
Lack of adequate accommodation will certainly hinder recruitment effort at our universities. The limited resources at the institutions, lecture halls, hostels, reading rooms and even co curricular facilities, make it difficult for students to get a quality education. Indeed, with the current system, the lecturer-student ratio is going to be more worrying. In some course unit, we going to have one lecturer teaching tens of thousands of students. This is the reason why the Mahama administration focused on the expansion of facilities in our schools including hostels, accommodation for the lecturers and their welfare matters, health facilities etc.
What triggered the KNUST crisis was the conversion decision- the university’s authority’s took that decision to solve the accommodation problem in the University. Government through the minister of state in charge of tertiary education Prof Kwesi Yankah, commended the University’s authorities and assured them of its support. That assurance was what emboldened the Vice Chancellor and his team to pursue their agenda forcefully. The President assured the Halls Alumni that government will review the policy. That statement (assurance) also emboldened the students to do what they did. So why dissolving the council while Prof Kwesi Yankah remains in office.
Do we have adequate accommodation/facilities to absorb the expected high number of SHS graduates? Do we have enough lecture rooms, hotels, lectures etc to meet the number? Why have we neglected the basic and tertiary levels. Is basic education in Ghana truly free?
Emmanuel Kwarteng from Mpraeso got admission to the University of Ghana to pursue Business Administration, yes, but after a year now, he’s finding life at the University a struggle. Since he missed accommodation on campus. Kwarteng lives in Madina in a poorly maintained, rented room which threatens to fall apart when it is windy. He paid a two year advance rent of Ghc 5,500 for the shared room, which has barely enough space for a reading table. The ramshackle washrooms are made of wooden off cuts, and the pit latrine almost full. He never takes breakfast but saves the little money he has for a meal at the University canteen . To get to class, Kwarteng walks few kilometres everyday, leaving him tired and unable to concentrate fully by the time he gets to class. Kwarteng cannot wait to finish his studies and move out.
Sadly, Kwarteng’s situation is replicated at universities across the county. And with the unemployment situation getting worse, some students are asking themselves whether the rough life they are living is worth their while.
