Deputy Education Minister in charge of Tertiary Institutions Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says, the fact that Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Cape Coast (UCC) have closed admissions, does not mean candidates will not be able to further their education.
Speaking Thursday on Adom FMs ‘Dwaso Nsem’, the deputy minister said the candidates who have not gained admission to KNUST and UCC may have been admitted to other institutions if they took advantage of the multiple application policy, which allows candidates to apply to more than one tertiary institutions across the country.
The two universities closed submission for application by qualified candidates for admission in April when results of the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) had not released the results of candidates who sat for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations.
Their doors have therefore been shut to the over 30,000 candidates who qualified and applied for admission to the two institutions.
But Mr. Ablakwa explained, the universities took the decision “because WAEC released the results too close to their admission period” and also because they would want to admit the backlog from the previous year”.
“But government will continue to engage WEAC and both institutions to ensure that the situation does not occur in subsequent years,” he said.
According to him, there is no need for the candidates to be alarmed knowing that there are a lot more options they can explore but “I am sure that majority of the candidates purchased multiple admission forms”.
Meanwhile, the Polytechnic Teachers Association have resumed work after government agreed to pay them their August salaries which it hitherto declined.
Speaking on the issue, Mr. Ablakwa said the new spirit of cordiality between them and government has accounted for the decision to unfreeze their salaries.
He said government initially decided not to pay because it was wrong for the teachers to be on strike and still earn their monthly salaries especially when a court had ordered them to go on a compulsory arbitration.
“The law is very clear that once you are asked to go on compulsory arbitration you are not supposed to be on strike but they continued the strike after the court ruling. That is why government decided to freeze their salaries”.
He said the move is to promote good relations between the teachers and government and also allow the student to cover what they lost during the period.
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