Agric Students Back To School After Govt’s Assurance Of ‘allawa’

Agric students across the country are back to school after abandoning lectures for close to a month.

Students of Agric training colleges in the country which include the Kwadaso Agric Training College, Ejura Agric College, Ohawu Agric college, Damango Agric College and Animal Health and production college packed out of the school a month ago over government’s failure to restore their allowances after restoring that of nurses.

But the students following consultation with the Ministry have returned to school after an assurance that the allowance will be paid soon.

Some weeks ago, the students took to the streets to register their displeasure over government’s inability to restore their trainee allowances after it launched the restoration of the monthly allowances for trainee nurses in Sunyani, Brong Ahafo region.

In 2013, the government of former president John Mahama scrapped the payment of allowances to students of colleges of education including the Kwadaso Agric Training College — a decision that was met with grave disapproval.

Mr. Mahama explained that the move was a barter for increased enrolment in colleges of education and upgrade of the status of such institutions.  But the cancellation of the allowances became a key element of the Akufo-Addo campaign, promising to restore them when given the nod.

President of the Agric Students Association, Chimbu Sampson told Morning Starr host Francis Abban on Tuesday, October 17, that they have not been treated fairly by the Akufo-Addo government.

” The Minister of Agric had nothing to tell us when we picketed at the ministry, we have not been able to pay our fees and also pay for some basic things that will aid in our studies and this is not fair. Government has discriminated against us because this allowance will go a long way to take off some of this financial burden we are encountering right now. We found the need to abandon classes to go and look for other means to pay our fees and pay for practicals if government has decided not to take us seriously by restoring our allowance just like they did for trainee nurses who are not different from us,” he said.

Source: Starrfmonline