We don’t discriminate against technical universities – Tertiary Commission
The Deputy Director-General of Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Dr Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai has urged staff and faculties of Technical Universities (TUs) to ignore claims that they are discriminated against compared to traditional universities.
Addressing the second session of the 17th Congregation of the Koforidua Technical University (KTU) on Saturday, August 7, 2021, as a Guest Speaker, he said some stakeholders have erroneously accused GTEC of deliberately delaying programmes accreditation for Technical Universities (TUs) and offering better conditions of service to traditional universities.
He stressed that faculties and staff of TUs in terms of “stature recognition and conditions of service are not and would not be different from their counterparts in the traditional universities. Salaries and emoluments such as books and research allowances for the two groups of faculty are the same and would remain so”.
Dr Abdulai explained that the only difference among tertiary institutions was institutionally approved conditions which were tailored and informed by the specific institutions and approved by the respective councils of the institutions.
The Vice-Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Professor David Kofi Essumang appealed to the government and interested groups for the construction of new hostel facilities and staff accommodation to alleviate the residential challenges of both students and staff.
He said the institute since inception had had only one students hostel accommodating less than 10 per cent of the entire student population, hence exposing the majority of students to poor sanitation conditions in their rented accommodations.
The second session of 17th Congregation was on the theme “the Role of Technical University Graduands in Building a Self-reliant Nation Through Entrepreneurship”, and had only 128 First Class Honours students in attendance in conformity with the coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols.