Academic activities at KNUST has finally resumed, following a court order and the advice of eminent persons that sat on the issue to suspend the strike. A grace period was given for UTAG members to vote to accept or reject the motion to suspend the industrial action that resulted from their salary increment demands not being met.
KNUST lecturers, being part of UTAG, voted to reject the motion to suspend the strike. However, though KNUST lecturers voted to reject the motion, they still resumed work on February 24, 2022 .
Meanwhile, KNUST students at the Obuasi campus also started lectures on Monday, February 28, 2022. Most classes went on smoothly for the first day of the semester’s academic activities, though some got their lectures cancelled as lecturers were not present in Obuasi yet and others, due to misinformation.
On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, most courses had lectures slated for the morning. Following the time schedule on the various timetables, students trooped onto the campus in their numbers, as the wait for a feel of academic activities was finally over.
Unfortunately, so many students were stranded on their first day at lectures.
KNUST Obuasi campus started with about 350 students and so, not so many lecture halls were needed for the smooth running of lecture activities. However, as of this year, the total number of students has multiplied 5 times the number of pioneers, which requires that more lecture rooms are provided to aid teaching and learning.
Nonetheless, some lecture rooms were renovated and others are still undergoing renovation. The trooping in of students on Tuesday made the demand for lecture halls exceed the school’s available lecture spaces.
Therefore, a quick solution was needed to mitigate the situation that left a great number of students stranded. Some classes were divided into smaller sections to have their lectures at different times of the day; some in the morning as per the timetable and the others, in the afternoon and the evening.
KNUST Obuasi is a growing campus and situations like these are bound to happen, but the school is doing its best to bring forth various solutions.
The Coordinating Dean of the Obuasi Campus, Professor Richard Boamah, in a meeting with the level 300 Business Administration students that were having a joint session, made them aware of the situation at hand, assured them of a better and bigger hall, that could accommodate all of the students during their joint classes sessions and also pleaded on behalf of the school for the stress they were made to go through in search of classroom space.
In the end, some students had to go home and come back later time for lectures.
In view of this, all students on the Obuasi campus are entreated to keep their fingers crossed and hope for a better condition on campus and also be calm during such stressful times.
Indigenes of Obuasi and all other stakeholders are also entreated to help in diverse ways to curb the discomforts of students on the campus and hopefully with time, KNUST-Obuasi Campus would be among one of the most serene environments to host students for tertiary education in Ghana.
Report by:
Francis Agyemang Hilbrands