GIJ students barred from writing exams over fees

Scores of students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) have been barred from taking part in the ongoing end of semester exams.

This is because they failed to fully pay their fees.

Normally one‘s required to pay 80 percent of his or her fees but that was changed suddenly without prior knowledge of the students, a source with the knowledge of the development told Starrfmonline.com.

Tempers are running wild on the campus, according to the source as the angry students including a mother and her daughter are demanding access to the exams hall.

One of the students who spoke to Starrfmonline.com said:

“I have paid almost all my fees and I am left with just 100 cedis but they prevented me from writing.”

“We promised to pay next semester but they said they won’t allow us to write,” said another.

GIJ is set to be merged with the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and the Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL) into one institution under name National Institute of Communication and Media Arts.

The government says the merger of the three institutions forms part of its commitment to expand tertiary education opportunities to meet increasing demand and the skill needs of the country.

Of the three institutions, only GIJ has been granted a Presidential Charter to award its own degrees, diplomas, and certificates for programmes accredited by the National Accreditation Board, while NAFTI does so due to its affiliation with the University of Ghana.