The Nation was greeted on Thursday 26th January, 2012 with the sad news that some nursing students at Mampong in the Ashanti Region had been attacked at their hostel on Wednesday 25 January, 2012. Again, we are told that not only were they robbed, but raped and battered as well.
As NUGS condemns the act and calls for the immediate arrest of the perpetrators of this dastardly act, a careful examination of the concerns raised by the nursing students indicate that if only some persons/institution(s) had performed their duties well, this unfortunate incident could have been averted.
The students explained that the main door that leads to the hostel is not locked in the evenings to allow them use the washrooms which are located outside the premises, and a host of other problems that made it very simple for the robbers to gain access into the hostel. If only the accreditation board had done its job well, we could have avoided this calamity.
There have been several calls by well-meaning persons to strengthen institutions in the country; nevertheless these calls seem to have fallen on rocks. We are seemingly nearing a critical juncture where the relevance of the institutions in the country is being annihilated, albeit NUGS believes the time has come for our state institutions to wake up and take responsibility.
Should the precursor for acting responsibly always be a sad incident like the loss we have just witnessed? The humiliation suffered by these students cannot be quantified, only God knows what they may be going through. These young ladies will probably have to live with this trauma their entire lives; whereas the policy makers live in well protected facilities and take their wards to the best schools available. But we cannot continue to toy with people�s lives as if it did not matter what the outcome may be.
NUGS has on countless occasions cautioned the National Accreditation Board (NAB) concerning its modus operandi for granting institutions accreditation. NUGS cannot fathom what criteria NAB employs to award accreditation to some institutions to provide tertiary education. People�s homes are being converted into universities, with virtually no facilities to support that enterprise. The complaints reaching the Union as a result of lack of basic facilities on most campuses, particularly the private ones are becoming unbearable.
We cannot continue like this and expect different results. NAB has the express mandate to accredit institutions to run and they must exercise this mandate bearing in mind that they are exposing people in harm�s way when they accredit just any facility as a tertiary institution. It�s sad to see someone�s two bedroom house turned into a university where the basic facilities that should necessarily be present in a university are practically absent.
NAB must wake and be responsible! It is as simple as that. They must make sure they are awarding accreditation to only institutions that possess at least the necessary facilities like a decent accommodation facility for students, well equipped libraries, well ventilated lecture halls with excellent teaching aids, etc.
NAB must be made to appreciate the reason for their service, accreditation must only be given to institutions with adequate lodging facilities and enforced security. Let�s together ensure that this disaster today is not allowed to happen again. To our dear sisters, NUGS wishes you well.
NAB should not wait till blood is shed unnecessarily before doing the right thing.
<<Print>>