UDS STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS FOR HOSTEL (PAGE 38, OCT 12)

THE Students Representative Council (SRC) of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) of the University for Development Studies (UDS) has embarked on fundraising activities to facilitate the construction of a hostel complex in Tamale.
The fundraising activities are targeted at mobilising GH¢10,000 as seed money to start the construction of the project estimated at GH¢4.4 million.
When it is completed, the facility will comprise a barbers shop, laundry, and other facilities for entertainment.
The President of the SRC-SMHS, Mr Joshua Tia, indicated that the project when completed would solve the accommodation problems facing students, and also enhance their academic work.
He however expressed regret about the partial accreditation of the SMHS, and the inability to absorb community nutrition students into the health sector after the completion of their courses.
According to Mr Tia, the little or no recognition for the nurse practitioners by the Ghana Health Service and the lack of hostel facilities were other challenges facing students that should be tackled urgently.
“We are pleading with stakeholders to stop playing politics with our lives; There is so much pressure on students leading to the payment of high school fees especially with the introduction of the problem-based learning,” the SRC President further entreated.
He appealed to the government to help equip the Tamale Teaching Hospital to provide a conducive environment for the training of students.
Mr Tia stressed the need for better conditions of service to motivate professionals to stay in the Northern Region to help students realise their educational ambitions
The president commended the management of the school for their efforts at providing a 1000-bed capacity hostel facility through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) to ease accommodation problems facing the students.
The Pro-vice Chancellor of the UDS, Professor David Millar, commended the SRC-SMHS for their vision to mobilise funds for the construction of a hostel facility.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbengba, announced that the Regional Coordinating Council was discussing with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief executives in the region on the possibility of supporting the UDS to provide at least four hostel facilities to solve the accommodation problems facing students.
“This university is very dear to the heart of the government hence we would do everything possible to provide the needed facilities to enhance academic work,” he further explained.
The Chief of Tamale, Dakpema Naa Mohammed Alhassan Dawuni, in a speech read on his behalf, stressed the need for the university authorities to assist students of the UDS by exploring all avenues including the GETFUND to ease accommodation problems facing students.
“Apart from accommodation, the SMHS is confronted with many challenges which need to be addressed if it is to be autonomous from other medical schools,” the Dakpema observed.
A nine-member executive made up of the SRC and the National Union of Ghana Students was inaugurated at the function.