After taxing students over GHS1,200,000 in under 2 years, UPSA is blocking students from participating in 2022 GUSA Games under guise of ‘No Money’
Students from the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) risk not participating in the 2022 GUSA Games following a series of Machiavellian tactics by school authorities to collapse sports in the University.
The 27th GUSA Games kicks off in 8 days at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi with all top athletes from various universities in Ghana expected to attend the event.
According to GUSA standards, each university is expected to present around 289 athletes to the Games. However, Prof. Okoe Amartey has unilaterally decided that just 50 athletes from the school would be funded by the University from the sports levy coffers.
According to sources close to the University, the Vice-Chancellor has also blocked the school teams from using the various training facilities to prepare ahead of the Games.
Through the students’ representative body of the University (SRC), the point has been made that the amount realized from the annual sports levy from 2020 (GHS1,200,000) has been used to fund the school’s Astro Turf pitch. Our checks confirm that the AstroTurf facility was constructed in 2019 and it should cost just roughly GHS400,000.
“We have been paying sports due/levy since we were enrolled into the university (GHS20) per student. However, we have not participated in any sporting event since 2020,” a student who spoke on the condition of anonymity (fear of victimisation) told Ghana Sports Online.
Meanwhile, 2022/23 academic year Level 100 students were made to pay GHS50 per head as a sports levy which means more funds into the coffers of the university.
The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) has a student population of 20,000 and students have been paying sports levies from 2020, 2021, and 2022. This gives you a rough sum of GHS1,200,000.
According to Ghana Sports Online checks, the University spends less than GHS1,000 on each student (athlete) when they represent the school at the GUSA Games. This means the University has decided to expend just GHS50,000 on athletes out of the GHS1,200,000 realised from the sports levy.
“During the 2019/2020 GUSA Games, each student was given GHS180 as allowance and some incentives which were; milk-6, Milo sachet-6, Egg-6, 2 pads to the ladies, 6 energy drinks, sugar about 3 cups.”
In the spirit of fair reportage and balanced journalism, Ghana Sports Publications contacted the Sports Chairman of the University, Mr. Albert Ampongseng, to get the side of the story from the university. However, he failed to respond to our calls and WhatsApp messages which ticked blue to indicate that he has read the messages.
According to research, sports do not only contribute to shaping your personality but also impact your academic performance significantly. There have been many studies proving that students involved in sports during their college life perform better in academics. Reasons for this can be many, as sport teaches you the skills of time management and also act as a stress buster when you are loaded with too many assignments and deadlines.
Students need to take a break from their daily routine to ensure that they have stable mental health. And what better way than involving yourself in sports, to take that much-needed break? Such productive breaks enhance your capacity to think, learn, focus, and contribute to academics.
The globally-acclaimed Benjamin Azamati, just like many other international athletes from the universities system in Ghana, and the actions and inactions of the Vice-Chancellor could directly jeopardise the dreams and prospects of budding talents in the university.
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Source: Sports
