NPP MP for Oforikrom, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo, says the time has come for university authorities in Ghana to pay particular attention to the requirements of the health screening before academic works starts.
He believes that this requirement when pursued vigorously will ensure that new entrants are in a sound body and mind state to begin the difficult academic work.
“Mr. Speaker, we seem to have relaxed this requirement as I understand, in the case of KNUST for example, out of the about 11,000 fresh students, only 3,500 have so far completed their medical examination requirement.”
“I believe there are very good reasons for instituting this measure and it must be enforced as it may help university authorities, and indeed parents, to take early measures to ensure that students are in the best of shape for the difficult academic work ahead,” he noted.
Dr. Marfo made this observation in a statement he delivered on the floor of Parliament, Thursday, over the increasing rate of suicides in the country’s university campuses.
The statement christened “Saying ‘No’ to suicide on our university campuses” also emphasized on the porous security measures in the private hostels scattered around the various university campuses in the country, with a call on the Ministry of Education to conduct periodic checks to ensure that safety and security measures are always in place.
“Mr. Speaker, many of our students are accommodated outside the main campuses due to inadequate official residence facilities. Today, towns lime Ayeduase and Bomso for example have become the main areas hosting all continuing students of KNUST and I believe the situation may not be different in other universities. The question is how safe are these private hostels?he quizzed.
He added “I understand that the Tourist Board conduct inspections and certify the safety of buildings meant for private hostels. Yet, my cursory checks of some hostels suggest to me that we have more to do in terms of security.”
Commenting further, Dr. Marfo urged all the university authorities in the country to adopt a more innovative way by exploring the possibility of using ICT such as a mobile app that can make students have easy access to counselors due to the large student populations.