Prof. Kwesi Yankah
The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, has appealed passionately to striking lecturers of the country’s technical universities to call off their strike and return to the classrooms following the preparation of proposals to improve their salaries and allowances.
“I am appealing to the striking Technical Universities Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) to quickly return to their lecture halls in order not to disrupt the academic calendar,” he said.
TUTAG has been on a sit-down strike since Tuesday, October 7, over poor condition of service following the conversion of polytechnics to technical universities.
Speaking at the investiture of the first substantive Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Director of Finance for the Takoradi Technical University (TTU), Prof. Yankah said, “I am aware of the proposals on the salaries and allowances put forth by government; they are fair and attractive.”
He indicated that the proposal would soon be put before the general membership of TUTAG at their respective campuses by their executives.
He, therefore, indicated that for the interest of the student body and for the sake of academic stability, TUTAG should resume classes.
The newly inducted Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. Frank Eshun, promised to expand the partnerships of the university with other higher educational institutions and other agencies in order to build a better and much stronger institution.
“Our short-term goals are to embark on research that meets the demands of Western Region’s industries and businesses,” he pointed out.
The National President for TUTAG, Dr. Solomon Keelson, revealed that the lecturers would only return to the classroom only if the Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta accented to the new proposal which should take effect in November.
“This is because the officials who met with us on the new proposal could not tell whether it could take effect in November because they did not hold the national purse so the man holding the national purse should say we can pay before we will call off the strike,” he stated.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi