Fresh students of some public universities have started arriving on the various campuses for registration and preparation for academic work, in compliance with the directive by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for schools to reopen.

Meanwhile, some of the universities have asked their freshers to report on their campuses today.

A visit to some of the universities last Saturday showed that some of the freshmen had arrived and were going through registration processes, while adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols.

University of Cape Coast

At the University of Cape Coast (UCC), the freshmen went through the registration process without difficulty, as they described the exercise as smooth, reports Shirley Asiedu-Addo and Edith Mensah.

A freshman, Anthony Yeboah, said: "I did not encounter any difficulty at all. I got here early this morning with my father and we were asked to put on our face masks and go through the process."

Another fresher, Mercy Amedzakeh, said even though the process was quite new to her, she had no challenges with the registration.

Some of them, however, expressed fear about contracting the COVID-19 on campus.

"I am glad to have gained admission, but my biggest fear is contracting the COVID-19 here on campus, it is very scary," Malaika Nyamekeh said.

Others said it was scary to know that schools had been reopened with the disease still around.

University of Ghana

At the University of Ghana, Legon, Severious Kale-Dery reports that freshers will begin arriving today and prepare for orientation on January 14, 2021.

The university has adopted a double-track system as a temporary measure to minimise any possible spread of the COVID-19.

The Dean of Student Affairs of the university, Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin, who disclosed this, said final-year students would report on January 17, 2020 for full lectures to start on January 19.

He explained that the freshers would go through the registration exercise online, and that those who would have difficulty doing so could report on the campus for assistance.

He said students in levels 200 and 300 would remain home till March 2020, by which time the first and the final-year students would have ended the semester.

CKT-UTAS

Vincent Amenuveve reports from Bolgatanga that 1,500 fresh students are expected to report on the campuses of two universities in the Upper East Region for the new academic year.

They are the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) in Navrongo and the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU).

While the CKT-UTAS expects not less than 500 freshers, about 1,000 students will report at the BTU.

First-year students of the CKT-UTAS will report on campus on Friday, January 15, while continuing students will report on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Meanwhile, a virtual orientation will be held for all first-year students of the CKT-UTAS from today.

A programme outline released by the university said “lectures will commence on Monday, January 18, 2021 for all students, while registration will be done online”.

First-year students were to come along with their original certificates for authentication, it said.

For the BTU, its interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Samuel Erasmus Alnaa, said students were expected to report today to begin registration.

He said orientation for freshers would begin within the week when “a reasonable number of the students report to campus”.

He further said face-to-face lectures would start the following week, by which time all students would have reported.

“The management of this university will not compromise on its efforts at ensuring that students adhere strictly to the COVID-19 safety protocols,” Prof. Alnaa said.