COURT CASE 0001: UNIVERSITY OF GHANA VS THE WRITER

MY UNIVERSITY IN PERSPECTIVE

My Honour

I’m just a freshman on this campus and I thank God the by August that name tag will end. Not that I’m complaining , surely all that ends well definitely has a beginning and so I had to begin.

Many of you may know I already didn’t want to get into this university for many reasons I don’t want to speak on now. (maybe later in later court cases). alright, forget about what you already know about this university since most may turn out to be assumptions. if you don’t know all the better, i’m going to reveal some things to you so follow the arguments closely.

I’ll start with the good things that i have seen in this university which of course the students and lecturers brag out. The biggest on is that the University of Ghana is the nation’s premier university. (period) it ends there for me… Fine! Fine! Fine! maybe there’s another one; the fact that the large student population is very good for networking since there are diverse groups of people on this campus. ( You never know who you’ll meet and need one day) There! I said it all! That’s it!

Please don’t take offense for ending there. The University is premier built by colonialists in the 40’s. the campus is very large, many buildings and offices …(few lecture halls even). Many will agree with me that the campus could to divided into two or three to make way for the constructions of other bigger universities. So what I’m I saying….?

The main problem I have with this University, My honour is the type of education if offers being the “PREMIER”. in a developing nation like Ghana, we don’t need a grammar- based type of education. Forget Africa for a while! Look at advanced countries, China, Japan and even the world’s America, etc… education is more technical and practical. Look at where these countries and the universities are ranked now and look at Ghana and our “prestigious premier university”…

Let’s say the sciences, the business administrations and the engineering are considered to be a bit practical in the university in question since i cannot even think of including the other fields offered. bear in mind, the key is considering. How many people are allowed to venture into those fields. The grades you need to make it there are so tightened that a few make it through reason being the facilities are few and cannot take large numbers…what is the university doing about it? something…nothing…? and so what happens each year a lot of grammar-based students pass out and are looking for “office jobs” like they have been taught to have. Would it have been so if the majority were technical and practical….CERTAINLY NOT! I would graduate, group a group of friends who are from similar fields or other relevant fields and set up our own company and for instance go into quality wrist-watches production… Why? because we have been trained in that light! in other words we would hit the ground running; put our hands to work!

A friend of mine offering political science and psychology in the University of Ghana, told me he wouldn’t go into the field in spent four years studying although (he has gotten experience since no numbers of years spent studying is a waste, i agree) so why cold those fours years have been into the relevant fields he’s going to pursue later on after school? My friend consoles himself with certain sayings of people, “ 1^st degree is really nothing and that being broad-based and you specialise when you do your masters.” A first degree holder in Japan is not only studying to be broad-based but to be technical and practical with what he has studied. My friend wonder how to be practical and technical with political science and psychology since both 1^st degrees in them cannot make you a political scientist or a psychologists a least professionally…( hold that thought)

Again in the university of Ghana, students are offered courses. You cannot seek to do what you want easily. What has become of schools these days. You don’t even know whether they are there for the development of human resource or their own interest. why wouldn’t you allow me to do something I have a natural flare for than offering me a course you think I can do! I wanted to study French in the University of Ghana. I went to see the Academic Advisor of the French Department and would have gone all the way to the top but he told me that they could not allow me to study French because I didn’t pursue it at the Senior High level. I agreed and told him that i lived in Ivory Coast (a French country) for a year after Senior High to study French and I was conversant with the language. He still insisted that he could not do anything to help me and that it was final and that the fact that I could speak it didn’t mean I could do well in it.. His point honestly didn’t make sense to me as I thanked him and walked out. Mind you it will be the same people in authority who will be advising students that you should do what you have a flare for and what you like doing and that with determination nothing is impossible.

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA being the PREMIER should pave a new way for the other government schools to follow… I ask again, is the university being in support of development of human resource or for the good name it holds.

My Honour I REST MY CASE!!!

 

The NO WATER Spree

Well, I know for quite sometime I haven’t really written anything on the blog for my many viewers. I ask for your forgiveness but this new ground in the university has really been taking a toll on me, but like a new friend I met keeps saying, “…by His Grace we are pulling through.” Yeah yeah yeah! I know that isn’t really an excuse for not writing but that’s the whole point, it’s not an excuse, things are really challenging, running from one lecture hall to the other on this premier university of Ghana. The campus territory is vast, huge, large, enormous, all the other words that don’t fit…lol. On a more serious note (as if I was joking anyways ), the university is big, that’s why I said running from one lecture hall to the other and finding food for my stomach, another daily activity but I’ll tell you all about that pretty soon. Right now I want to deal with some other current serious issue going on here on campus, permit me but I’m not on your campus. I can’t write what’s going on there, unless you tell me and the whole world.

                You wouldn’t believe it, I didn’t but after going through it, now I know it’s POSSIBLE!!! Can you believe I came back to school from home – surely you can believe that… Thing is when I returned I came and was told my hall water wasn’t flowing by my room-mates. Ok, fine, I could live with that. Water could stop flowing due to some fault. I went to see a friend of mine in another hall and he disclosed to me that there was a notice saying that there was not going to be water flowing through the campus for at least 10 days. The last part bored me…at least 10 days! Well it’s been day three and all is going on well; there’s enough water in the tanks to last a long while…I hope? At least in this respect the school has done a lot to curb the pressure on students. Looking at this huge establishment which is now 60 years old, it’s thinkable that there could be a little mismanagement since it is government oriented, but it’s doing pretty fine! More grace to their elbows.   

 

The Issue of Strikes

I don’t even know how to start with whole issue of these strikes those teachers and lecturers undertake. I initially told you, I’m a freshman, maybe I didn’t tell you I’m in a government institution so it all adds up. I woke up today to discover that the University lecturers are on strike. In words I understand very simply, they are not coming to class. That’s the whole point I dislike, I’m a freshman, I don’t have a course outline, what I’m I supposed to study. Yeah you get the drift, you think? I went to undertake a tour of the school’s most prestigious library, it’s very big. You could actually get lost in that thing, you know… fine! You don’t know. Yes and what was I writing (not saying) ; my tour guide said something that really dazed me when I consider the whole thing with strike, I wonder if it is true and the way he talked, he sounded like I should know that already. He said, “You know your exam questions for the semester have already been set and therefore you should make it a point to come to the library to study something because whether or not your lecturer comes to class, the questions are already set.” I’m like what the heck, and you should have seen the smiles that wiped across his face afterwards.

I took two points of action from that; I have to find out what to study and if I don’t I have to go to the library and start reading things in my course of study. Ok I agree that’s like one point. Whatever you think, ok? Those crazy people, they could have at least done something instead of leaving me hanging. Ok! I’ll get a hold of myself, now I’m wondering why they do say that, how can I hold myself. Don’t mind me, I’m just trying to release all these, some people would choose to called frustrations but I would call hmmmmmm… on paper.

So though I didn’t like the whole setup from the onset I have to do something before I realize the government doesn’t offer to listen to all those requests made by the teachers. I wonder what they even requested because for as young as I am (I don’t consider myself old yet…it’s all in the mind) I have heard of many strike actions. Now what do they want again. My political science lecturer made a comment today; he said government has to make them more productive and they have to take care of their families. I’m wondering if maybe the economic pockets of the teachers are not corresponding with the economic environment of the country. Makes mighty sense, right? So like I said I have to take this thing into my own hands. I went to the library today without a course outline, and began the search for a book. You definitely start from day one to get to anywhere else you want. I remember remarking to my girlfriend that I told her it’s a promise to study hard from the onset. If possible the best score. I asked a senior in his final year doing the same course whether it was possible to score a perfect grade in all the courses. He replied, “NO” Actually he didn’t speak, he nodded it. I’m yet to show him how it is done. SO GOD HELP ME! Say Amen….ok say it. AMEN!

People, these arguments with government and teacher are going to go on for sometime, and I’m not going to sit down for them to control me and tell me what to do… If you can get on my band wagon now, all the better for you, opps I mean us. We are taking our lives into our own hands, besides if we don’t who will…. You with me?