Retired Kumasi Polytechnic Contract Lecturers on Strike

Retired lecturers of the Kumasi Polytechnic who are on contract by the government to help complement regular services of lecturers to teach students have laid down their tools because the Controller General's Department has reportedly failed to pay them.

Information gathered by The Chronicle indicate that the retired lecturers are angry about the non -payment of their salary, and have refused to go to lecture halls to teach.

Students of the Engineering department of the institute, who spoke to this paper on condition of anonymity, said they came for lectures only to be told that the Government owes some of the lecturers so they decided not to each.

In a telephone interaction with the Dean of Students of K-Poly, Mr. Francis Sarpong Mainoo, he confirmed that this category of lecturers was contracted by the government for two years. He would not want to comment any further but not after admitting that the aggrieved lecturers have not received their salaries for last month.

The Dean indicated that no student will be affected by the development since other lecturers could make up for the loss under the requisite

minimum hours of teaching.

Asked about the repercussions of this development on the students, Mr. Sarpong Mainoo, however, maintained that no complain of the position of the aggrieved lecturers has been reported to his office.

The Director of Finance, Mr. Joseph Awuah Dapaah, confided in The Chronicle that the Government has directed that school authorities do not renew contract of this category of lecturers (retirees) who were engaged two years at a time their services were needed to fill teach students when regular teachers were on strike.

According to him, the administration had written to the Finance Ministry to address this issue as "Some lecturers do not exceed the 12 hour per week lecturing.

Meanwhile, Kumasi Polytechnic has ordered that students who could not meet the deadline for the payment of school fees to pay a penalty of GH¢5.00 per day, at the alleged instance of the Academic Board of the school, the Finance Director disclosed.