Dr Eric Opoku Mensah, National President of UTAG
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has warned Government not to go ahead to implement its decision to remove all lecturers beyond the age of 65 on post retirement contract from government payroll.
This, according to the National President of UTAG, Dr Eric Opoku Mensah, would put post graduate studies at the public universities in jeopardy.
The Government through the Public Services Commission is requesting that all lecturers on post retirement contract beyond 65 years be removed from Government payroll for the universities to pay them from their Internally Generated Funds (IGF).
But speaking at a National Education Forum organized by UTAG in conjunction with the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) on Thursday at Elmina, Dr Mensah said the move was detrimental to the universities’ preparations towards the enrolment of free SHS students into universities in 2020.
“The truth of the matter is that our universities are understaffed in all disciplines. Government must seek to tackle the problems of infrastructure and human resource as we prepare to implement this crucial government policy by 2020,” he stated.
“If this directive is carried out by the 31st of October this year, then those that will be affected are the finest in our universities; professors and associate professors on post retirement contract,” he added.
Dr Mensah said UTAG together with Vice Chancellors Ghana, would be engaging government on the matter to protect teaching and research in Ghanaian public universities.
He said universities were not capable of paying the professors from their Internally Generated Fund (IGF), therefore the directive posed as a clear and present danger to the quality of university education in Ghana.
Professor Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) who chaired the function, underscored the need for equity in the educational sector particularly the free SHS policy.
According to him education must be viewed from the perspective of equity rather than equality.
“It must not be about everybody getting the same thing, but rather everybody getting what they need to progress and that is what we should stress in this country rather than stressing equality,” he said.
