Tamale Polytechnic teachers on a sit-down strike

Tamale, Oct. 31, GNA - The Tamale branch of the Polytechnic Teachers' Association of Ghana (POTAG) has embarked on an indefinite strike in solidarity with members whose appointments had been terminated for their alleged sexual harassment of female students. A statement issued in Tamale on Tuesday and signed by five executive members of the association said the strike would continue until the schools' sub-committee, which terminated the appointments, reversed the decision.

In March an Accra based private newspaper that some tutors at the polytechnic were sexually harassing female students and awarding them high marks in their examinations and students who refused to compromise were failed.

The statement said the publication dented the image of the polytechnic as well as tutors and the Vice-Principal instituted a committee to investigate the allegations because the Principal had travelled out of the country.

It said before the committee could start sitting, the principal had travelled back and disbanded the committee and set up a council sub committee, which was a violation of the Polytechnic's Constitution. The statement said, "Despite the inappropriate constitution of the sub committee, the procedure employed in inviting the accused lecturers contravened the provisions of the statutes of the school.

The statement said the lecturers who were accused of the offence were denied the opportunity to cross-examine those who accused them and that it was the students' words against that of the lecturers' and this was unfair to the lecturers.

The statement said the committee also failed to call for scripts of female students who claimed they were sexually harassed. Dr Yakubu Seidu Peligah, Principal of the Polytechnic, told the GNA that the strike action was uncalled for since every lecturer on campus stood accused as at the time of the newspaper report. He said it was true that the earlier committee instituted by the Vice Principal was dissolved and explained that the Newspaper publication said some lecturers of the Polytechnic were sexually harassing female students.

This needed an independent committee to investigate since the Vice Principal and other senior members were lecturers and would not come out with a fair report.

Dr Peligah said the matter was referred to the Polytechnic Council, which then instituted a sub committee to exclude lecturers to ensure that the report was fair to bring discipline and sanity on campus. "The committee used four months to sit. Why is it that the 148 lecturers in the Polytechnic were not all accused? There are still a lot of students who failed to appear before the committee because of fear of victimisation."

"These things have been going on in our institutions and we would not sit down for few individuals to dent the image of polytechnic education or spoil people's daughters in the name of awarding them marks," he said. 31 Oct 07