Ghana News–An educationist and member of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo Tradition of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) 
has cautioned the management of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST) against happenings he believes will cause their fortunes to dwindle if not dealt with.
In a press statement, Nana Owusu Kyenkyehene made revealing statements about how university students are caned at lectures, denied access to marked exam scripts, bombarded with sudden online assignments without giving them enough time to work through them as well as poor records keeping especially regarding class attendance.
Nana Kyenkyehene also stressed the issue of fluctuating lecture schedules which he says keeps the students apprehensive.
“It is worthy of note in the first place that there is no official platform on which students are informed of times for lectures apart from the students own created whatsapp platforms on which group presidents or any student who gets information on a lecture schedule puts it for others to pick from their phones.”
“To make matters worse a lecture schedule can be changed three times in a day giving students cause to worry about when to do their assignments and plan for their private programs.”
He accuses the university of “cowing down the students into a hush such that none of them will be forthcoming with the truth if confronted by an outsider for fear of victimization”.
“A monster has been created of the lecturers that they have become so sacrosanct in the eyes of the students so none of them is able to raise a finger against any wrong doing on campus.
The status quo has been accepted as a norm by the students most of whom would be very highly relieved if the system was changed for the better” he says.
Please read the full statement below:
SIT UP – KNUST and put an end to the dysfunction
There is no gainsaying the fact that the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is one of the most highly reputed Universities in the World and has become the most reputed Science University in the West African Sub region.
The achievements chalked by products of the University the world over is beyond description. In fact it matches shoulder to shoulder with science universities in the advanced countries around the globe.
It is however very shocking to note the current happenings on the campus of this highly placed University in Ghana.
Caning of Students
It is unbelievable to hear that students are caned in the lecture halls during lectures.
Some students are also antogonised by lecturers for no apparent reason.
Records
Records on student attendance to lectures in most cases is nil as no such records are made yet lecturers find it convenient to wrongly accuse students of non-attendance to lectures.
Examination Scripts
What is worrying is also the fact that students are denied access to their marked scripts during examinations. They are therefore at the mercy of lecturers who decide to award marks of their own fancy to students.
Lecture Schedules
The most worrisome action of some lecturers is the fluctuating time schedules for lectures which keep students very apprehensive every passing day.
It is worthy of note in the first place that there is no official platform on which students are informed of times for lectures apart from the students own created whatsapp platforms on which group presidents or any student who gets information on a lecture schedule puts it for others to pick from their phones.
To make matters worse a lecture schedule can be changed three times in a day giving students cause to worry about when to do their assignments and plan for their private programs.
It is pertinent to note that in a day there can be more than two hundred whatsapp messages on the students platforms which must be flipped through by the students to see if a lecture time has been re-scheduled.
It is very much understood that some lecturer’s especially at the medical school are medical doctors who can be called at odd times to attend to patients at the Komfo Anokye and other hospitals which normally causes the disruption of lecture schedules but in the Agric and Engineering departments there are no such calls or if any just a few but some lecturers have taken the liberty to reschedule their periods to the inconsistencies and worry of the students.
Defence
I am very much aware that the lecturers do not want the reputation of the university to be soiled so they will rally to defend the indefensible though privately they would accept that there are shortfalls within the system which could be managed if they were bold to point out the flaws to their colleagues who are perpetrating such acts.
The funny side of the situation is how the university has managed to cow down the students into a hush such that none of them will be forthcoming with the truth if confronted by an outsider for fear of victimization.
A monster has been created of the lecturers that they have become so sacrosanct in the eyes of the students so none of them is able to raise a finger against any wrong doing on campus.
The status quo has been accepted as a norm by the students most of whom would be very highly relieved if the system was changed for the better.
Assignments
It is surprising to note that assignments given to students are not done well ahead of time to give them enough time to research and answer the questions therein.
They are many a time given in omnibus manner at say 12.00 noon on a website and students are required to work them out and submit them by say 5.00pm on the same day.
It is interesting to note that students are not prompted in advance of the assignments coming. One just goes to the net or website to check if there is any such assignment and he is either met with it or misses it giving the fact that they are put there at random.
To get things a bit right for the students I would like to humbly suggest that the email addresses of the students are taken and such assignments sent to them ahead of time at given times so that they can access the information at notified periods.
The KNUST is a pride to West Africans as far as its historical achievements have gone. It is therefore very worrying that of late the Management seems to be dysfunctional and the earlier the chancellery sat up the better it would be for the University.
Stay tuned for more.
Nana Owusu Kyenkyehene
Phone: 0204440916
P.O. BOX 4103 Kumasi
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3y3 as3m oo Ghana