The President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has advised the Mahama-government to be\u00a0prudent in its spending, because by doing so , tertiary students will agree to the utility cost sharing policy it intends to implement.<\/p>\n
He stated that while the government is asking the students and the general public to \u201cgird up their loins, you [government] should be seen to be prudent yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”8QVBFGTCdTyotBPLqRlGjaDeK3pVRfGb”]Government is currently in talks with stakeholders in the education sector including student leaders to formulate a utility cost sharing policy which will make tertiary students pay 70% of their utility bills during their stay on campus while the various institutions will pay 30%.<\/p>\n
According to the government, it is no longer able to bear the utility costs of all public tertiary institutions.<\/p>\n
However, student leaders have threatened to kick against the policy<\/strong><\/span><\/a> because it will further burden students financially.<\/p>\n Speaking on Citi FM\u2019s<\/strong> news analysis programme, The Big Issue<\/strong><\/em>, Franklin Cudjoe expressed disappointment that so far, government has not exhibited the judicious use of state resources which is why citizens are unwilling to make any compromises.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we speak, I haven\u2019t seen much of the prudence on the part of government\u2026and it\u2019s important that when the subject of cost cutting comes up, it shouldn\u2019t only be thrown at students or everybody else except the government.\u201d<\/p>\n He also argued that \u201cif the economic management had been well done, some of these piece meals, interventions here and there will not really be the case and if the parents of university students were a bit okay in the system, we would probably not get question this at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf the economy were any better, people will not necessarily be bothered is they are asked to pay some of these things and also the way the politicians keep promising all sort of things which they want to do which they don\u2019t deliver,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Cudjoe however advised the students not to outrightly dismiss the suggestion being made by government but they should take a critical look at the policy again.<\/p>\n Student\u2019s shouldn\u2019t pay utilities<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, financial analyst, Sydney Casely-Hayford is of the view that tertiary education should not be supported by government.<\/p>\n He nonetheless stated that \u201cit is very important that we bring out good material\u2026then we have to figure out the mechanisms for ensuring that we have provided all the tools that are required.\u201d<\/p>\n According to him, if it the nation\u2019s philosophy is that the youth must be educated to a point where they have the needed tools to make a living for themselves for the rest of their lives, then the needed support must be given by the state.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we think that by the time a young man finishes SHS, you would have given them sufficient machinery to be able to go out there, get a job and make a living, then that is what you support up until that point. If it has to go beyond that, then you need to decide whether or not you need to support it as a country to that point<\/p>\n Casely-Hayford stressed that tertiary students should not be made to pay utility bills.<\/p>\n He rather suggested that the government must \u201creduce the numbers that they are taking in\u2026you want to have a good calibre of people whom you can have intellectual discourse with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing you want them to be doing is worrying about whether or not they can afford to pay their bills while they are trying to study. It\u2019s not good enough,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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