The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has strongly opposed a proposed policy by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to harmonise promotion guidelines for academic senior members across public universities.
In a letter addressed to the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, through the UTAG National Secretariat in Accra, the association questioned the basis for the initiative and criticised what it described as inadequate stakeholder consultation before the proposal was introduced.
UTAG-KNUST argued that GTEC’s claim that disparities in promotion standards exist across universities was unconvincing and lacked sufficient justification.
According to the association, differences in promotion systems among public universities are deliberate and reflect the unique mandates, governance structures, and academic cultures of the various institutions.
The association further questioned why the harmonisation exercise was focused solely on academic staff promotions when disparities also exist among other categories of university personnel.
“We respectfully ask whether academic staff are the only category of university personnel for whom disparities exist?” the association stated.
UTAG-KNUST warned that imposing a uniform promotion framework across public universities could undermine institutional autonomy and erode the distinctive academic identities that individual universities have developed over the years.
The association also urged GTEC to focus on addressing broader challenges confronting the tertiary education sector, including inadequate staffing, poor student-to-teacher ratios, limited laboratory infrastructure, and other conditions affecting teaching and learning.
It further called for greater attention to the classification or tiering of Ghana’s higher education system, arguing that such reforms would have a more meaningful impact than what it described as peripheral interventions targeting promotion procedures.
The association cited challenges facing under-resourced institutions such as the University of Environment and Sustainable Development and urged the Commission to prioritise strengthening capacity across universities instead of enforcing uniform standards.
UTAG-KNUST further indicated that its members would be unwilling to support the implementation of the proposed framework unless significant disparities in staffing levels and infrastructure among public universities are addressed.
The association maintained that existing governance structures already provide adequate autonomy to university councils and argued that the current promotion system is functioning effectively.
“The system is not broken and therefore does not require this form of intervention,” the association stated.
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