<<Print>>

Concerned Parents of the University of Ghana Basic School have described fees charged by the University for dropping and picking their children as discriminatory, unfair and arbitrary. The Concerned Parents said though they had not been denied access to the basic school the only alternative route available through the Oponglo entry would take about 30 to 45 minutes instead of 10 minutes through the GIMPA side if one is coming from the western part of Accra. Briefing the media on the impasse between the University and the non staff parents of the UG Basic School, Ms Felicia Agyapong, a parent said �This new road access policy would cause a great deal of inconvenience to pupils.� �Our children have to endure hardship by travelling long distances from their homes and staying in traffic for longer hours as a result of vehicular jams in the morning rush hours,� she said. The group said the University was taking undue advantage of the non-staff parents of the school for financial gain because authorities thought the children did not have a voice or relevance to the university community. �The Children who spend between nine and eleven years of pre-tertiary academic life on campus are described as �outsiders� meaning they have no legitimate business on campus. This smacks discrimination to say the least,� Ms Agyapong said. According to the group the charge of GH�400.00 per annum for a sticker to be paid by a parent on behalf of a child was not only exorbitant and unfair but also unacceptable in view of the fact that students of the university who are adults are allowed to pay GH�50.00 only for the same UG sticker. Giving a background to the impasse, the group said at a PTA meeting, parents decided to send a delegation to the University authorities to secure a concessionary arrangement to exempt non-university staff parents. This was refused and the reason was that the tone of the petition was harsh and did not follow the right procedure in submitting the petition directly to the Vice Chancellor. The parents apologised and requested the introduction of an Identity Card system to enable bearers of the cards to alight and pick children and offered to pay the equivalent of 25 per cent of the cost of the sticker per parent which translates to GH�100.00 The Registrar of the University refused their petition saying the UG Basic School was not meant for non-university staff and that the current ratio was 50:50 of staff pupil to non-staff pupil prevented children of staff from accessing the school. The group also said another reason for refusing the petition was that non-staff parents were beneficiaries of subsidized education which the University was providing as welfare facility for its staff but the parents said this was not correct. The group said UG staff pays GH�334.00 for kindergarten pupils while non-staff pay GH�563.00; Staff pays GH�140.00 for their kids in primary whilst non-staff pupils pay GH�334.00. At the Junior High School level; staff pays nothing but the non-staff JHS pupil pays GH�344.00. The group said comparing the fees of staff and non-staff pupils in the Kwame Nkrumah University and the University of Cape Coast non staff of the UG Basic School was on the high side making UG the most expensive of all. The group said it has no other alternative to appeal to Office of the President, the Council of State, the, Minister of Education, Parliamentary Select Committee, and Ministry of Women, Gender and Social Protection to intervene. It called on child rights advocates to join forces with state institutions to restrain the UG authorities from preventing non staff parents from using the entry and exist points until the impasse is resolved and the safety of the children who walk over 800 metres to and from school is guaranteed.