Delay in financial clearance affecting operations of public tertiary institutions
The delay in financial clearance by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) for the replacement of staff in public tertiary institutions is adversely affecting the operations of such institutions, the Rector of Accra Polytechnic, Professor Sylvester Achio, has stated.
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According to him, in 2015 for instance, out of a staff of 66 that needed to be replaced by the Accra Polytechnic, the MOF provided financial clearance for only seven.
Addressing the 15th congregation of the polytechnic at its premises in Accra last Saturday, Professor Achio said the situation was having a toll on the finances of the institution.
“The institution is greatly constrained using her internally generated funds (IGF) to pay part-time staff to keep academic work going,’’ he added.
Congregation
At the congregation, 4,171 students graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Applied Science, Arts, Business, Management Studies and Engineering.
Electricity bills
Professor Achio also pointed out that the polytechnic was having financial challenges with regard to payment of its electricity bills.
He described the challenges as “deadly” and appealed to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and other stakeholders to come up with a meaningful solution to the energy issues facing the institution “as far as financial cost sharing is concerned.’’
In November last year, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) cut power supply to the polytechnic for failing to pay GH¢1,496,222.22 in electricity bills.
The power supply was, however, restored following a directive from the government to ECG to desist from cutting power supply to public tertiary institutions.
Technical universities
Professor Achio lauded the government’s decision to convert the polytechnic into a technical university, but added that “it calls for a greater sense of responsibility and more innovative approaches to doing things and showing to the world that we are mature.’’
He announced that as a result of the conversion, construction works had started on a 130-acre land at Mpehuasem in the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region, acquired by the management of the institution to serve as a satellite campus in order to address the issue of congestion.
Advice
The Chairman of the Polytechnic Council, Mr E.T Mensah, advised the graduates to be hard-working in their chosen careers and eschew all forms of vices that would affect their development.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman, underscored the need for the general public not to perceive vocational and technical education as a form of education reserved for students who were unable to make it to universities, stating that, “such institutions aim to give students practical training and also develop their entrepreneurial skill.’’