The Students Representative Council (SRC) of Accra Polytechnic on Thursday said they would not call off their strike to protest against the grading system in the polytechnics.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr Samuel Yeboah, SRC President, said the student body would continue with the strike "for as long as it will take to bring home to the authorities our demands for better grading system, academic progression and recognition at the work place."
Mr Yeboah, who was flanked by other executive members of the SRC, said the students had been negotiating since 1997 but "nothing has come out of the negotiations. "We have negotiated, boycotted lectures with nothing coming out till today. This time round we are asking for pragmatic approach to solving the problem."
The Ghana National Union of Polytechnics Students (GUNPS) on January 22 went on a demonstration through some principal streets of Accra resolving not to resume lectures unless the government suspended the new performance grading system to allow proper negotiation to take place.
The new performance grading system places 50 per cent as the pass mark. Mr Yeboah said it had come to the notice of students that the government was treating the students the same way that the previous government did without addressing their grievances.
He said in as much as they cherished the democratic dispensation that people had the right to freedom of expression and choice of movement, "We are also aware that when situations such as this erupts, certain individuals capitalise on it to satisfy their personal and selfish interest".
Mr Yeboah said the SRC had observed that some political fanatics had "associated this just cause with political influence" adding that people should stop drawing political lines around their legitimate concerns.
The GNUPS presented a resolution to President John Agyekum Kufuor through the Minister of Education Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi on their grievances.
The petition called on the President to intervene, as a matter of urgency, in the impasse between the Ministry of Education, National Board of Polytechnic Examination (NABPEX) and the student body.
The GNUPS listed six areas in contention to include the academic progression of the Higher National Diploma (HND) graduate, job placement of the HND graduate, autonomy of the polytechnics, lack of adequate academic and administrative staff, basic academic and residential infrastructure and the implementation of Ken P. Brown and Professor F.O. Kwami's reports.
