Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has expressed dissatisfaction about Government?s proposed scrapping of book and research allowances for lecturers in public tertiary institutions across the country without consulting them.
The Government of Ghana announced its decision during the presentation of the 2014 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on Novermber19, 2013 under the heading, ?Sustaining The New Policy? to cut allowances given to lecturers for book and research and replace it with the National Research Fund.
National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG in a communiqu? after a special retreat at Sogakope in the Volta Region in January 2014, stated that it was inappropriate for Government to have made such an announcement without first consulting them (UTAG) as the major beneficiaries of the fund.
UTAG again stated that there was no need for the Government to cut their books and research allowances because of the new proposal as they claimed the two ?can co-exist as they are not mutually exclusive but can be used to complement each other.?
They noted that the book and research allowances had helped early lecturers and researchers in the universities to start their professional development in terms of conducting research and attending conferences, adding, ?The scrapping of the book and research allowance will hurt the career development of such category of academics.?
UTAG was of the view that the book and research allowance which the Government had proposed to replace with the National Research Fund was tied to the University lecturer?s condition of service and was introduced as a result of a collective decision taken by both the Government and UTAG. The group claimed that its abolition should, therefore, not be a unilateral decision.
Government?s decision to replace the book and research allowance with the National Research Fund, UTAG claimed, would have grave implications on the future of public universities in Ghana, and they are, therefore, calling on the Government to rethink its decision thoroughly.
By Melvin Tarlue
