Winifred Poasa
By Hillary Thompson, Accra
The Gushiegu Nurses and Midwifery College Principal, Winifred Winding Poasa, has raised concerns over the lack of accommodation for students and staff.
Winifred Windom Poasa said the school, with a population of 570 students, has just a few rooms to house the female students.
According to her, the male students are housed in a temporary shelter in Gushegu township; therefore, they have to commute from the township to school each day.
Speaking at the matriculation of new students at the college, Winifred Windom Poasa noted that the challenge puts the lives of students who study during late hours and staff at risk.
She further revealed that the male students housed outside the campus are at risk of being evicted.
“At the moment, we are hosting our male students outside the campus in temporary accommodation in the Gushiegu township, and last year, we had an eviction notice from the owners.
“But due to the intervention by the Municipal Chief Executive, we are still there, and any moment from now, they can call for our students to vacate the premises.”
‘No staff accommodation on campus for any staff. Not even myself. I live about a mile or two away from campus, and all the teachers live in town,” the Principal added.
She also lamented the absence of a school library and an inconvenient ICT laboratory.
Winifred Windom Poasa indicated that Nursing and Midwifery Council Exams are currently done online, therefore, require a state-of-the-art ICT lab to accommodate the many students.
But due to the current challenges, she said, “we have to take the exams in batches which are not cost-effective.”
“Because we don’t have a stand by generator as a school, we depend on an outsourced generator and to run a generator on two or three shifts for a day for the exams is very expensive,” she added.
She also spoke about the transportation challenges facing the school.
“The two pickups are overaged, especially the very first one. So, the cost of maintenance is very high.”
She, therefore appealed to the government and organisations to come to the aid of the College. The school also requires a cafeteria.
A student, Adeline Dakora, said they are forced to eat in polythene bags because the College has no dining hall to host students.
