It has come to light that student leaders of the University of Ghana gave their approval to a proposal by the management of the University to adopt a ‘double-track’ system for the 2020/2021 academic year.
Mrs Lydia Nyarko-Danquah, who is the head of the teaching and examinations unit of the Academic Affairs Directorate of the University stated that leaders of the Students Representative Council and the Graduate Students Association were in a meeting where the academic calendar was discussed.
Contrary to claims by some students that management of the university took an individual decision, Mrs Nyarko-Danquah told UniversNews that there was proper consultation with student leaders on the model it wants to run for the 2020/2021 academic year.
“Initially, we put out a calendar for the start of the semester in November 2020 and that is what was suspended. Before that calendar came out, the student leaders, that is GRASAG and SRC, had a discussion with senior management and that is what came out. On the basis of that calendar, we have this calendar. Everything is the same it’s just that the dates have been updated,” she said.
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Mrs. Nyarko-Danquah stressed that the decision to allow students to come in batches was in the best interest of students.
She added that the decision was taken in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading among members of the university community.
“We are running the double-track because we care about our students’ health. Covid is with us and we cannot take it for granted. We are running it so we keep to the protocols, keep our students safe and make sure that our students also get the quality that they need,” Mrs. Nyarko-Danquah said.
On the mode of teaching for the academic year, she indicated that lectures will be mainly held online.
“As much as possible, lectures will be held online, but then there are exceptions. It depends on the course and the examiner. But in most cases, we are encouraging our examiners to have their classes online.”
Management of the University of Ghana on Tuesday released its academic calendar for the 2020/2021 academic year.
They have appointed Monday, January 18, 2021, for the start of teaching activities for newly admitted students and final year students.
Teaching activities will end for these students on Friday, February 26, 2021, after which there will be a two-week period for the main first-semester examination.
The first semester for the level 100s and 400s will end on Sunday, March 21, 2021.
These two groups of students are expected to report between Thursday, June 17, and Sunday, June 20, 2021, for the start of their second semester of the academic year.
First-semester teaching activities for second-year and third-year students will commence on Monday, April 5, 2021, after a disinfection exercise has been undertaken on the campus.