The Bolgatanga Polytechnic branch of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) has expressed worry over delays in the conversion of the Polytechnic into a technical University.
The group claims some of its members are migrating to other universities due to the government’s delay.
The conversion of polytechnics into technical universities was one of Former President John Mahama’s manifesto promises ahead of the 2012 general elections.The purpose of the conversion was to bridge the gap between academia and industry.
All polytechnics in the country have been converted into technical universities except for the Bolgatanga and Wa Polytechnics in the Upper East and Upper West Regions respectively,
Speaking to Citi News, Emmanuel AKANPAADGI, Chairman of TUTAG at the Bolga Polytechnic, said the conversion of the Polytechnic into a technical university is long overdue because the school has met the criteria for conversion.
‘We don’t know why after we have gone through the reassessment and met the requirements, government is still delaying. A lot of them are getting disgruntled, some have left and others will leave when they get better opportunities.”
He said government’s failure to upgrade the Bolgatanga Polytechnic is discouraging.
“Every employee would want to see progression in his or her career. So we feel that, we have gotten to the point where we also need to be upgraded and that will also boost the morale of lecturers. What we need now is to be converted because we have met the requirements to be converted by all standards. The conversion comes with a lot of benefits, but as it stands now, we can’t get those benefits if we are not converted. The staff that we’ll need to run our programs will not be there so the implications will be widespread, he stressed.
‘Treat us just like university teachers or face our wrath’ – TUTAG
The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), has indicated that the failure of the government to migrate them onto the conditions of service enjoyed by their counterparts in traditional public universities is politically motivated.
The Association is of the view that, the current government is not showing enough commitment to their concerns because the former Mahama administration initiated the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities.
“They don’t respect anybody in the technical universities because they didn’t convert polytechnics into technical universities. You have a government adviser to the ministries about universities telling us that the former government didn’t think through the change from polytechnics into technical universities.”
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By: Nii Larte Lartey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
The post Bolga Poly laments delays in conversion to technical university appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
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