The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has called for extensive negotiations before the establishment of the National Research Fund, which is to replace the Book and Research Allowance of lecturers.
UTAG maintains the Fund cannot be done “in a day”.
“We need to take our time.”
These concerns were raised by Dr Samuel Ofori Bekoe, the National President of the Association, in an exclusive interview with TV3’s labour correspondent Daniel Opoku on Wednesday, September 3.
The Association met to officially call off its one-month strike action but raised concerns about government’s seeming rush to establish the National Research Fund.
“We are ready for negotiations,” said Dr Ofori Bekoe, “and whatever we decide on we will work with it going forward but if you insist that this is what I want and by all means this is what you have to accept then that is not negotiation.”
“It is like you are imposing something on us.”
Government after reaching an agreement with UTAG on Tuesday September 2, expressed the resolve to establish the Fund with an agreeable sum of $1,500 per lecturer.
But Dr Ofori Bekoe accused government of trying to vary some of the conditions of service under the Fund without consulting the lecturers.
“That was completely low, but that was what government was trying to do and that’s why we stood our grounds that we won’t allow it to vary this principle.”
He said a fund of that nature even requires legislative backing.
“We need an act of Parliament to actualize this.”
The lecturers are suggesting that there is the need to even set up research councils as pertains in the United Kingdom, Dr Ofori Bekoe mentioned.
He explained that those councils can then be categorized based on disciplines.
“Then [the councils] will now be directing activities so that it wouldn’t be like if it is just one body and I am a social scientist and bring my proposal and pure scientists are the ones who can access it, what is it that they can understand?” he wondered.
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