Speed up payment of Book, Research allowances — POTAG
The Ho Chapter of the Polytechnics Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) has called on the government to expedite action on the payment of their book and research allowances to forestal interruptions in the academic calendar.
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It said the call was expected to be a wake-up one for the government to take the necessary steps towards resolving challenges to avoid any further disruptions in the academic calendar.
A statement signed by the Chairman of the Ho Poly branch of POTAG, Mr Albert Laurent Sakabutu, said although the payment of the 2016/2017 academic year book and research allowances would be due in September 2016, POTAG members were yet to be paid their allowances for the 2015/2016 academic year.
Labour agitation
The statement recalled that the delay in the payment of the allowances in the past had led to numerous and protracted labour agitations in all polytechnics, resulting in the disruption of the academic and work calendar.
It added that the continued delay in the payment of the allowances was heightening tension on all polytechnic campuses and that some members had started agitating for industrial action.
Accordingly, the statement said it was good news for the association when the Ministry of Education said in February this year that “the government had taken serious notice of the dire consequences of the annual ritual of labour agitations on academic work in respect of the delay in the payment of the book and research allowances to the polytechnic teachers”.
Failed promise
According to the statement, following that the Ghana Education Service promised that the ministry would expedite action on the inputs for the payment of the 2015/2016 academic year allowances and ensure that payment would be made latest by the end of May 2016.
“We are now in July 2016, inching towards August 2016, and yet these allowances have not been paid and we have no clue as to what exactly is responsible for the delay,” it said.
“We entreat government to begin working on the inputs for the payment of the 2016/2017 academic year allowances, which will be due in September 2016, to promote teaching, research, innovation and development, which are the key performance indicators and benchmarks for evaluating the successes of the technical university era,” the statement said.
The payment of book and research allowance to polytechnic teachers in Ghana is an annual requirement enshrined in their conditions of service.
The allowances are supposed to be paid at the beginning of every academic year, which normally begins in September of every year.
