<<Print>>

STUDENTS OF Kumasi Polytechnic on Tuesday hit the streets of Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital to register their displeasure about government�s failure to respond to the concerns of their lecturers. The students, in solidarity with their striking lecturers, hit the streets to impress upon the government to respond to the concerns of their lecturers so that they would return to the classroom. Dressed in all manner of mourning attire, the students began their street protest in the morning from the entrance of their campus and marched through some of the principal streets of Kumasi, before presenting a petition to the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyeman Mensah, at the Regional Coordinating Council. Amid singing and dancing to a variety of �soloko� tunes, the students displayed placards, some of which read �Atta, why rob POTAG to pay Woyome�, �The downfall of Uncle Atta, mess�; �Is POTAG�s money bigger than Woyome?�, �We need our lecturers back, NDC is killing the country�, among others. In an interview with the media, the Students� Representative Council (SRC) President wondered why government was not showing commitment to polytechnic education. Prince Charles Ohene Appiah said if government was dedicated to polytechnic education, the lecturers would not have embarked on six strikes in protest over their conditions of service since the government assumed power. The SRC President noted that it was unfortunate that polytechnic education had to suffer unduly under the Presidency of a learned professor and renowned lecturer. According to him, the strike action had impacted negatively on the students because the end of semester examinations could not take place while project supervision was also stopped. He said apart from the fact that the strike would change the academic calendar, final years students could not go home because they had not concluded their project works. �How do you expect those coming from long distance to survive when they have run out of money?�, the SRC President asked rhetorically, pleading with the government to come to their aid by letting their lecturers return to the classroom. Members of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) last week declared an indefinite nationwide strike in protest against the government�s unwillingness to pay their new salaries after their migration onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS). Though, the association, after several months of heated struggle finally got the blessing of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for their transition onto the new pay policy, the government was dragging its feet in paying what was due to them. Realizing that the government was not committed to paying them their due under the new pay policy, the association declared an indefinite countrywide strike action to compel the government to respond to their needs. The strike action did not only disrupt the end of semester examination but also saddened final year students because the lecturers had withdrawn services including invigilation and project work supervisory roles. Instead of striving for an amicable solution to the impasse, the Minister of Education, Lee Ocran, described the strike action as unlawful and therefore tasked the lecturers to return to the classroom or lose their salaries. The National Labour Commission (NLC) also muddied the waters with their declaration that the lecturers should submit to compulsory arbitration. Wanting a platform to respond to the developments, the association called for an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kumasi and resolved to maintain the strike. They said that until government clearly demonstrated their commitment to pay them all the monies due them, they would not return to the classroom.