What is accounting for KNUST's mass deferment?

In the past week, about 6000 students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology have had their courses deferred owing to their inability to settle their school fees.

Management of KNUST ascribed reasons for the failure of these students to pay their fees, citing betting, and venturing into businesses amongst others.

On the ground, however, there are more plausible reasons some of these students were unable to settle their debts. Paramount amongst them is the financial constraints that have been burdening many.
This is the story of one such student, offering Medicine as a fee-paying student.

"The programme is long and arduous and the fee is quite huge. As a fee-paying student, you are closed off literally to every opportunity of scholarship or Bursary that the regular students could leverage.

When I wrote to Getfund alongside a couple of friends for assistance to pursue our programme, we were told to stop sending 'love letters' . When we attended interviews for Bursary and scholarships, we were told we weren't 'needy enough.' The door was shut in our face. However High-class citizens had access and benefited from these schemes.

The price we paid for these was the deferment of our Program as we had no help. Up until we got a loan to pay the debt off and be reinstated.

Honestly, some students are much more impoverished. The only way to raise funds to support themselves and cope while in school is to venture into some businesses which may produce returns to help them.

This, some belief must not be done. But when you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, there isn't anything you would do to redeem yourself."

Currently, about 3500 students have been reinstated and the window period for settling the debt has been extended. The Students Representative Council (SRC) has been instrumental in getting this done.