The University Teachers Association (UTAG) is calling on government to rescind its decision of taking off academic staff above the age of 65years from the government pay roll.
The said academic staff engaged on contracts by the public institutions after the expiration of their mandatory age in the service must be paid through Internally Generated Funds, according to the government.
In a letter by the Public Service Commission written to the universities and UTAG through the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) on the 4th of October, 2018, government indicated that the policy takes effect on 31st October, 2018, in line with the Public Services Commission statutes.
Speaking on the matter at a UTAG forum at Elmina on the educational delivery in the country, the President of UTAG, Dr. Eric Opoku Mensah called on government to put a halt on the new directive as it would deprive the public universities of critical staff especially those in the Professorial rank.
He added that the public universities do not have enough funds to pay such key staff.
According to Dr. Mensah, graduate work and research will also be negatively affected as those key staff are those who mentor and supervise the teaching and research works of such graduate.
The UTAG President opined that those academicians must be kept longer at the public institutions as not only do the institutions lack adequate staff to make up for the numbers but again they possess rich experiences that could still help in the teaching, learning and research process.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour
