Mahama Has No Regard For Polytechnic Education

Convener of the group, African Young Conservatives Dialogue, Emmanuel Attafah Danso has bemoaned the state at which government has dumped polytechnic lecturers. �It is becoming increasingly clear the anti-polytechnic posture of this government making it rubbished, ignored and refused to address the grievances and legitimate concerns of the polytechnic lectures across the country.� Government has refusal to address the concerns of the Polytechnic Teachers Association (POTAG) has led to the closure and disorganization of the academic calendar of the institution. According to the former National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), President Mahama�s government has proven to be �no Respecter� of Polytechnic Programs, Students and the institution as a whole. In a press statement he said �we all acknowledged the effort the Former President John Agyekum Kufuor made leading to academic progression from HND to BITECH that gave the clear progression and meaning to HND education in this country. �Also the problems, challenges and constraints the polytechnic graduates faced at the job market were seriously addressed by increasing their rankings and status making them middle level/senior staff at their various work places�. He said the previous Kuffuor administration can boast of embarking on a massive educational infrastructural projects which also helped cushioned the polytechnics from many of the problems they faced. Mr. Attafuah Danso said, �GNUPS, POTAG, ALUMNI, stakeholders and friends of polytechnics cannot understand why this government has decided to be so impatient, intolerant and a foe to the polytechnic fraternity. More than six 6 weeks ago, Polytechnic lecturers went on a journey an institutional unrest or declared a sit down strike and government out of no respect for them and the polytechnic community has decided to tend a deaf ear and refused to negotiate with them on the legitimate demands of their book and research allowances.� He indicated that the book and research allowance has been outstanding since 2013 and GNUPS, the student association has made a call on government to intervene as its affecting students and causing a collateral damage to the academic calendar but has fallen on deaf ears. �We have been observing equally some worrying trend of the withdrawal of allowances of the colleges of education, nursing training colleges, and the outstanding of payment of monies into the GETFUND that has created a lot of problems in the areas of provision of academic materials viz. text books, cumulative records, chalk, teachers notebook, registers and stalled in the provision of educational infrastructural facilities, school feeding capitation grants and many commitments have been failed leading to churning out students and half-baked intellectuals in their country� he stated. He has therefore pleaded with government to take steps to address these problems and commit resources to save education thereby improving on human resource development. �We are shocked to the marrow as a beneficiary of free education, now the President of the republic will treat students and lectures this way. POTAG and many problems facing Educational sector must be tackled now for academic work to continue,� he added.