Polytechnic students shocked at exclusion from police recruitment

Students of the various polytechnics in the country have expressed shock at the decision of the Ministry for the Interior to limit recruitment into the Ghana Police Service to degree holders.

According to the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS), this decision, to a large extent, excludes polytechnic graduates – most of whom hold Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates – from the list of eligible applicants for recruitment into the Service.

GNUPS said it was taken aback when the Daily Graphic, in its Monday 5th September, 2016 edition, carried a publication headlined ‘Graduate Enlistment into the Ghana Police Service’, where it was stated that all applicants must possess a minimum bachelor’s degree not below Second Class Lower division from an accredited university.

A statement issued by GNUPS and signed by Abdul Rahaman Ibrahim and Prince Agbofah Awuku, Coordinating Secretary and Public Relations Officer, respectively, said: “Over the years, polytechnic graduates, particularly HND holders, have always been part of graduate enlistment into the Ghana Police Service. We are, therefore, taken aback by this weird development and wish to find out from the government, as well as the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service, what has changed. Are they by this suggesting that these polytechnic products are of low quality and are not fit to join the Police Service as officers? Since when has the government come to that realisation and what is the evidence or justification for same? The polytechnic students of Ghana need quick answers to these nagging questions.

“We shall, in all pertinacity, resist this subtle attempt to undermine our hard-won certificates and make us feel, inferior under the circumstances. It is indeed an incontrovertible fact that polytechnic graduates who are described as middle level manpower for the nation’s economy, play an indispensable role in the structural transformation and development of this country. With this in mind, we expect the state to, at all times, roll out laudable policies and interventions to boost polytechnic education in the country and support its graduates to bring out their best for national growth and development.”

Read full statement below:

POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS OUTRAGED AT THE DECISION TO EXCLUDE THEIR GRADUATES (HND HOLDERS) FROM THE 2016 GRADUATE ENLISTMENT INTO THE GHANA POLICE SERVICE

The Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) has noticed with great SHOCK and OUTRAGE, the decision by the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service as well as the Ministry of Interior and by extension, the government of Ghana to, for the first time, prevent polytechnic graduates from joining the Police Service as officers. The Daily Graphic, on Monday, 5th September, 2016, published the list of eligible applicants or general requirement for prospective applicants, under the caption, “Graduate Enlistment into the Ghana Police Service”, where it was categorically stated that, all applicants must possess a minimum of First Degree not below 2nd Class Lower from an accredited university.

The Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) is not only livid by this unfortunate development but find same as absolutely discriminatory and a monumental insult on the entire polytechnic fraternity and wish to call on the government to take immediate steps to rectify this anomalous spectacle. We are by this statement, putting on record that the polytechnic students of Ghana, having already suffered some discrimination in juxtaposition with our university counterparts, have now resolved not to tolerate these excesses any longer. The conscious decision to exclude us from the list of graduates that qualify to join the Ghana Police Service as referenced above, is just one of such discriminations we are talking about. Enough is enough.

We shall in all pertinacity, resist this subtle attempt to undermine our hard-won certificates and make us feel, inferior under the circumstances. It is indeed an incontrovertible fact that polytechnic graduates, who are described as the middle level manpower for the nation’s economy, play an indispensable role in the structural transformation and development of this country. With this in mind, we expect the State to, at all- time, roll out laudable policies and interventions to boost polytechnic education in the country and support its graduates to bring out their best for national growth and development.

Over the years, polytechnic graduates, particularly HND holders have always been part of graduate enlistment into the Ghana Police Service. We are therefore taken aback by this weird development and wish to find out from the government as well as the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service, what has changed. Are they by this, suggesting that these polytechnic products are of low quality and are not fit to join the Police Service as officers? Since when has the government come to that realization and what is the evidence or justification for same? The polytechnic students of Ghana need quick answers to these nagging questions.

Interestingly, government consistently claims to appreciate the importance of polytechnic education and also claims to be committed to bettering the lot of the nation’s polytechnics and their graduates. This assertion, regrettably, has proven to be untrue because the state of polytechnics today, leaves much to be desired. Again, their so called commitment to polytechnic education falls absolutely flat on the faces of polytechnic students across the country based on their decision to discriminate against polytechnic products regarding enlistment into the Ghana Police Service.

We wish to conclude by reiterating our call on the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service, the Ministry of Interior and the government of Ghana in this regard to immediately take steps to reverse the decision to exempt polytechnic graduates from the 2016 enlistment into the Ghana Police Service. The Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) is very outraged by this development and would fight same with all the necessary alacrity in order to protect our education right for the love of God and country.

Thank you.

Long live Polytechnic Education

Long live Mother Ghana.

…Signed…

Abdul Rahaman Ibrahim Coordinating Secretary, GNUPS

Prince Agbofah Awuku Public Relations Officer, GNUPS