Eight hundred and twenty-six students of the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) are to repeat either a class or semester because they failed to register at the beginning of the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year, as required by the university.
This means that the affected students, whether they have paid their fees in full or in part, will have to repeat because they ignored the university’s requirement to register at the beginning of the semester.
The affected students cut across levels 100, 200, 300 and 600 (masters degree).
Importance of registration
Speaking to the media in Takoradi, the Registrar of the university, Mr Moses Maclean Abnory, said the university had extended the deadline for registration a number of times, “with the last one extending from August last year to January 28, this year”, but the students did not pay heed to the warnings.
He explained that the university ran the semester system, which had student data as a cardinal feature.
“It is important, therefore, for students to note that registering is a prerequisite for all students at the beginning of every semester,” he said.
Students registration, he added, provided useful data for planning, organising resources, allocating lecture theatres and paying regulators. It also defined the university’s legal obligation to the students.
He said the student-management system run by the university meant that the affected students would not be allowed to register, since their data for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year was not captured, while registration for the second semester had commenced.
Course deferment
“And if you are not captured in the first semester, then definitely you cannot proceed to the second semester of the same academic year.
“We, therefore, wish to state emphatically that the students’ deferment of their courses is their own creation and not that of the university,” he said, adding that it was not a matter of non-payment of school fees nor was it a deliberate act.
Mr Abnory said many students had registered and were yet to pay their fees, while some parents had negotiated for a payment plan, saying that those students who had deferred their programmes had themselves to blame.
Deadlines
The TTU Registrar explained that the university reopened for the 2019/2020 academic year on August 19, last year and registration by all continuing students was opened till September 6, two weeks after reopening.
He said following consultations, the management of the school extended the period for registration from September 6 to September 26, 2019 to allow those who could not register to do so.
October deadline
Mr Abnory said just when the September 28 deadline was about to elapse, a strike by the lecturers took place and the deadline for registration was extended until the teacher unions called off the strike.
“Throughout all these we still called on the students to do the needful and register,” he said.
He said the school’s management went further to open a window of opportunity for those who had not registered to do so before the end of the semester examinations and the deadline was again pushed to January 13, and then due to the final strike by teachers, it was again pushed to January 28.
Procrastination
Some students of the TTU the Daily Graphic spoke to said their mates who were unable to register were aware of the requirement to register every semester but did not take that requirement seriously.
