Resolve concerns of TUTAG - TaTU SRC appeals to government

The Student Representative Council (SRC) of Tamale Technical University (TaTU) has made a passionate appeal to government to quickly address concerns of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) and also inaugurate governing councils for the Tamale and Cape Coast Technical Universities.

In a press statement signed by the SRC President of TaTU, Mr. Alhassan Mohammed Kamaldeen and issued by his Public Relations Officer (P.R.O), Mr. Nii Sowa Samuel, the SRC expressed their ultimate displeasure in the sit down strike by TUTAG.

They complained that, already, there are numerous challenges facing the educational system and the sit down strike action taken by TUTAG is going to bring nothing less than a greater trouble to students of technical universities.

They also mentioned that, it was their expectation that government through the Ministry of Education (MoE) would have initiated some steps to reach a tangible agreement by both parties to immediately address concerns of TUTAG.

“We already have lot of challenges in our educational system and this sit down strike action will add salt to our injury. We expected government through the Ministry of Education to have initiated a tangible road map agreed by both parties that will quickly address the concerns of the lectures to enable them go back to the lecture halls”. They said.

The council re-echoed that students are the primary and the immediate victims of the strike action due to their vulnerability, “We are at a disadvantage since government and TUTAG have nothing to lose directly. We students are vulnerable, government and TATUG must not exploit our vulnerability for their gains”.

The SRC stated in the release that, final year students who require the needed time with lectures to prepare them adequately for the job market in order to contribute their quota to the development of the country are disadvantaged due to the strike action by TUTAG.

They added that, it is clear the government and other stakeholders in the country have not given technical universities the required attention. Though it is obvious that no country can develop without investing in technical education, various governments continuously sing songs about it but do practically nothing to achieving it.

“It is clear that various stakeholders and government have not given technical education the needed attention in this country. It is clear that no country can develop without investing in technical education and various governments continue to sing this song without any tangible investments to show” They said.

Again, they lamented that technical universities in Ghana are facing lots of challenges in relation to infrastructure and some other basics required in schools.

They have also appealed to the government to inaugurate the governing councils for the Tamale and Cape Coast Technical Universities, since absence of the council has made decision making difficult which is lagging the development of both technical universities.

“We the students of the various technical universities cannot boast of anything but rather facing numerous challenges which includes inadequate infrastructure, inadequate lectures halls, practical equipment and many others. This is making our stay in the institutions very difficult.

We plead to government to quickly address the concerns of our lecturers and also inaugurate the governing councils of Tamale and Cape Coast Technical Universities as soon as possible”. They said.