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Vice Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Dr. Eric Opoku-Mensah has advised the students to obey the school rules and regulations to avoid future conflicts.

The Management of the media institution has granted amnesty to students it asked to defer their courses for failing to register for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year.

"Management has listened to students' plea and accepted the apology rendered by students in good faith. Leadership, therefore, grants a general amnesty to all students to complete their registration. Affected students should immediately produce their receipts at the Academic Affairs registry to complete registration processes. This opportunity to register shall expire in five (5) working days from today, on Thursday, 1 April 2021.

"Any other student who has a special case should contact the Registrar's office to avail themselves of any opportunities available for students with exceptional circumstances or difficulties. Accordingly, examinations scheduled to start on Monday, 29 March 2021, are rescheduled to Tuesday, 6 April 2021. The Academic Affairs registry shall release a new examination timetable in due course," a statement by the management read.

Also, speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", the GIJ Vice Rector explained the circumstances that led to the decision by management for the students to defer their courses.

He stated that the decision wasn't meant as punishment but rather it was in line with the rules of the school.

"Because they didn't pay their fees and so failed to register, if we don't allow them to write the exams, technically what it means is automatically they have dismissed themselves. So, the thing we could do to protect them was to make a public notice that any student who hasn't, up till this point, hasn't registered while we're about to write exams, if you don't defer; you will lose out your studentship. But it wasn't that, because they haven't paid their fees, we are punishing them to defer. We were only drawing their attention that, up till this point, that it's left with one week to the exams, if you haven't registered, the only option for you to remain a student is to defer," he said.

He advised the students to respect deadlines and those who have genuine concerns should interact with the Dean of Students because the school has a good arrangment for students who can't fully pay their fees before registration.

"Some didn't pay the fees but they have registered because they wrote a letter to the management," he disclosed.

He asked those who were affected by their decision; ''How many of them wrote a letter to management that they couldn't pay their fees?''