Address accommodation problem - KNUST SRC

The Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has called on the university authorities to address the accommodation problem on the campus.

The council said if the issue is not addressed within the shortest possible time, they would resort to "Constructive Positive Defiance". Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Wednesday, Nana Adjei Blackie, President of the SRC, said many students were stranded, unstable and with no hope as to where to lodge. This is because they have been kicked out of their halls of residence in accordance with the University's policy.

Giving the background to the accommodation problem, the SRC President said the university authorities, in their bid to address the problem, introduced a new residential policy two years ago under which students were entitled to two years' residential accommodation. This policy was later reverted to at least a year of residential accommodation on campus. Nana Adjei said hostels offering accommodation are full, making it impossible for such students to find accommodation.

Some students are putting up with friends in the halls of residence. Therefore, rooms meant for two students now take six or more students. Nana Adjei said female students who were stranded had no place to lay their heads and had to put up with some male friends in the halls of residence.

He appealed to private entrepreneurs to help find a solution to the situation by investing in hostel development.