Convert empty university hostels to quarantine centres for stranded Ghanaian students abroad-NUGS

The National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS), is calling on government to expedite processes of paying nursing and teacher trainee allowances as fulfillment of one of its promises during the 2016 elections.
According to NUGS,  for about seven months, the second semester allowances have been in arrears, leaving the teachers and trainee nurses, especially those who are back to campus and preparing for their final exams in a state of hardship amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra today, the President of NUGS, Isaac Jay Hyde, said NUGS noticed that government has began paying the allowances this week but it is still appealing to the loan secretariats and the appropriate agencies to ensure that all the trainees are paid within the stipulated timeless.
“We have been notified about the commencement of payment of trainee allowances this week, with some colleagues confirming receipt of their allowances. We are appealing to the loan secretariats and the appropriate agencies to ensure that all trainees are paid within the stipulated timelines,” he appealed.
Repatriation of students
Mr Hyde noted that many Ghanaian students are stuck in foreign countries as a result of COVID-19 and want to come home but the current repatriation conditions demand individuals including students to pay a minimum of GHS7,000 for hotel fees for their quarantine, an amount which is too much for students to bare.
“This is too much for our students to bare. If this counry requires or desires that these students will someday contribute their quota to the development of this nation, then the government should do something about the situation,” he said.
NUGS, Mr Hyde said is therefore recommending that government make use of the various hostels that are lying empty in the tertiary institutions for the quarantine purposes so as to avert the exorbitant cost that students have to pay for the quarantine.
 
 
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