An executive member of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Dr. Addai Mensah, has hinted that the Governing Council of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is likely to be reconstituted by close of Tuesday, November 13. Dr. Mensah said if an informal meeting members of UTAG had with the Minister for Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, on Sunday is anything to go, the Council will be reconstituted. “[Dr Opoku Prempeh] demonstrated a lot of maturity and pragmatism as far as the KNUST issues are concerned. “We are almost certain that by the close of day [Tuesday], a council would have been inaugurated which will pave the way for the reopening of the university and normal academic work to begin,” he said. According to him, the main tussle has got to do with the dissolution of the Governing Council and the controversy surrounding the eligibility of old members to be part of the new council.
Government had said it will not be in the interest of the school for various stakeholders to present same members on the new council. But the stakeholders, including UTAG, TEWU and the SRC, argued that it will be impossible for them to present new members, citing their constitutions. There has since been a standoff on the reconstitution of the Council, which will among other things see to the reopening of the school. KNUST was on Monday, October 22 shut down following a violent demonstration by aggrieved students. Dr Addai Mensah, however, noted their meeting with the Education minister was positive and there are indications that a governing council will be reconstituted by close of Tuesday, November 12. He was unable to tell when exactly school will reopen because in his words, “that will lie in the bosom of the new council if indeed it is reconstituted tomorrow” but noted UTAG is aware of the distortion of the academic calendar by the issues. The UTAG Executive Member was speaking to Johnnie Hughes on 3FM‘s Sunrise. He said even though UTAG has not officially spoken to issues pertaining to the academic calendar, he believes if school is able to resume next week Monday, lectures could continue up until December 21, when they will go for a break and resume early January. But the students are worried that they have already wasted a lot of productive hours at home. The Federation of Ghana Medical Students’ Associations (FGMSA), for instance, has called for a resolution of the crisis, to enable its members complete “a very packed curriculum…within a short period”. President of FGMSA Ngaaso Kennedy, who spoke on Sunday, said the ultimate demand of his Association is to have school reopened “now, not within the shortest possible time”. By P.D Wedam|3news.com|Ghana]]>
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