[ 2017-02-13 ]

Vice Chancellor of the Sunyani Technical University, Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah

Government provides GH¢ 55m for book, research allowance
A provision of GH¢55 million has been made in the
2017 budget for the payment of book and research
allowances of lecturers of public universities,
the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew
Opoku-Prempeh, has revealed.

In addition, plans are in place for the
establishment of a research fund to enhance
academic research in the various universities.

“Government will pay book and research allowance
and in addition establish a research fund,” he
stated.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh’s announcements, which was
contained in a speech read on his behalf at the
first congregation of the Sunyani Technical
University in Sunyani on Saturday, was met with a
long applause by lecturers of the university.

The speech was read on his behalf by the Director
of Tertiary Education of the Ministry of
Education, Mr Cephas Adjei-Mensah.

A total of 1,684 students were awarded with
Bachekor of Technology (B.Tech) in Building
Technology and Computerised Accounting, and Higher
National Diploma (HND) in Engineering, Business
and Management Studies, and Applied Science and
Technology.

Utilities

Dr Opoku-Prempeh stated that the government
remained committed to abolishing the payment of
utilities in educational institutions by
students.

He said the government was aware of the
disconnections by the Electricity Company of Ghana
(ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)
in public tertiary institutions.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh explained that the Ministry of
Education, in collaboration with the National
Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and tertiary
institutions, would enter into special
negotiations with the utility companies to find
lasting solutions to the problem.

Technical universities

He stated that technical universities were meant
to position technical vocational education as a
driver of the country’s economic prospects.

“Government remains committed to technical and
vocational education as it will be the bedrock of
its One-District-One-Factory initiative”.

He gave an assurance that the government would
assist the Wa and Bolgatanga Polytechnics to be
converted into technical university status.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh expressed worry about the gap
between academia and industry, which, according to
him, remains an issue of public interest.

He, therefore, gave an assurance that he would do
his best to engage captains of industry to foster
the right partnership to create jobs for the
teeming youth and graduates.

Embargo on employment

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah,
implored the government to give the university
financial clearance for the employment of new
members of staff to replace retired staff and
faculty members.

He explained that the employment of new staff
would enable the university to have the required
human resource capacity to handle existing and new
programmes.

“This request is critical, since we could not
obtain clearance for a single faculty/staff for
the 2015/16 academic year although many of them
exited from the university due to retirement,
resignation or passing on to eternity,” he
indicated.

Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah appealed to the government
to ensure that the Sunyani Technical University
received its a share of the AMATROL Equipment
Supply to retool its Engineering/Technical
workshops and laboratories.

Source - Graphic.com.gh

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