Agric students pack out of Kumasi campus over allowance issues

Students of the Kwadaso Agric College in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region have packed out of their campus as part of a series of protest over government’s failure to restore allowances for agric trainees in the country.

A visit to the school by 3News Tuesday showed an empty campus with deserted classrooms as students were said to have abandoned lectures and left for their respective homes.

Red bands were had been tied at the dormitories and lecture halls to signify their protest. Few students who were seen on the campus of the College told 3News they were also preparing to also leave.

SRC President of Kwadaso Agric College, Stanley Mensah, said they are not ready to resume academic work until government restores their allowance.

One of the students, Oppong Nsiah, who was on campus Tuesday told 3News his colleagues left the campus last Friday after they picketed in Accra to demand for the restoration of their training allowance.

“Personally, I’m here because I have animals on campus that I have to take care of and you know the daily routine and activities involved in animal production; you can’t just leave them there,” he said, noting he has managed to get someone to take care the animals and would be leaving the campus by close of day.

“We feel like we’ve not been treated fairly and feel like we’ve been left out. They should do something about our issue so that we can come back to campus to continue our academic exercise,” Nsiah added.

Another student who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was still on campus because of a project he is currently undertaking, which he said requires consistent monitoring.

“We can only be convinced if the President come out to tell us or the leadership of the presidency come and tell us something that will calm us down. If actually they will not give us the allowance, they should give us a substitute that will be like we’ve been given allowances,” he appealed.

Deputy Director and Vice Principal of the College, Bright Akoto, told 3News it was unfortunate that it had come to this point, saying “Of course I’m surprised because this decision of theirs is going to throw the entire academic calendar out of gear.

He said the semester has been programmed to end by December 24 and expressed the hope that the students return for lectures to continue so that they can write their exams before the exams ends.

“In the event that they are unable to come, then we will have to talk to Cape Coast University because we are directly under them so that they advise us what to do,” Mr Akoto said.