With parliament yet to conclude on whether to consider a motion suspending academic fees for the year due to the effects of COVID-19, some tertiary students have taken to social media to add to the pressure being mounted on government to pass the bill.
Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, this week moved a motion in parliament asking the House to cause the president to suspend the payment of fees by students in tertiary institutions for the year.
The motion by Mr Ayariga, however, seems to have courted some level of opposition from members of the ruling party in the House with some describing it as flawed and incompetent.
With the house still yet to make any concrete move on the motion, some tertiary students have taken to microblogging social media site to launch a campaign in support of the suspension of fees.
The #SuspendTheSchoolFees campaign has seen students and individuals in support of the suspension share several reasons why government must heed to the call.
From most of the tweets, the call is necessitated by the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected incomes of parents, guardians and students.
Read some #SuspendTheSchoolFees campaign tweets below:
https://twitter.com/fatheranthoni/status/1352638788095401986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1352638788095401986%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ghanaweb.com%2FGhanaHomePage%2FNewsArchive%2FGhanaian-students-on-Twitter-rise-with-SuspendTheSchoolFees-campaign-1162024
It is obvious that the outbreak of Covid-19 has had a negative impact on business and has rendered many parents jobless.
The call for suspension of School fees for the 2020/2021 academic year by Hon. Mahama Ayariga is a call in the good direction.
1/2 #SuspendTheSchoolFees— Shadrach Quaicoe (@QuaicoeO) January 22, 2021
U see in Ghana ankasa some pple dont know the reasons why we vote….Imagine walking through the rain n shine to vote for ur MP to be in parliament who is standing against a motion that will benefit you…#SuspendTheSchoolFees https://t.co/wF2moFfBAz
— Rasta4NDC ???????? (@Rasta4NDC) January 22, 2021
In the best interest of students nationwide, student leaders from GRASAG, USAG & NUGS joined forces on Wednesday to present a signed petition to parliament in support of Hon. Mahama Ayariga’s motion requesting government to absorb tuition costs of…(1/2)#SuspendTheSchoolFees pic.twitter.com/yWa6o8uDRq
— ||•Odonkor Emmanuel•||•????????•|| (@1_odonkor) January 22, 2021
Source: Ghanaweb