The various labor unions at the Tamale technical University joined hands with the student body, the SRC of the school to serve notices to government that they would resist all attempts to inaugurate the school’s governing broad as a Polytechnic council, if not as a technical university.
The labor groups include lecturers, administrative staff as well as the student representative council leadership of TaTU formerly Tamale polytechnic were joined by some notable traditional rulers from the area; the Dakpema and Sanarigu-Naa.
According to the agitating groups, governments’ decision to downgrade the Tamale Technical University to a Polytechnic status was is a deliberate action to deny the people of the region, technical university education. They have therefore urged government to ready itself to face stiff resistance if a governing board for the status of a technical university isn’t in place by September 15.
Addressing the press at the school premises, chairman of the local chapter of the Technical University Teachers association of Ghana, Issahaku Salifu queried why the Minister of education did not put before parliament the L.I in the last nine months.
Issahaku Salifu also said an Executive Order by the previous government converting the school into a Technical University thus makes their current status legal and for the institution to be recognized as a technical University whether it part of the schedule of the Technical University Act 922 (2016) or not.
The agitating labour groups and student leadership also reminded government that, the financial and psychological cost of reverting Tamale technical University back to a polytechnic was unquantifiable for all stakeholders to bear and therefore cautioned government not to risk taking that path. They later presented a petition to the Northern regional Minister Salifu Sa-eed for onward submission to the president for his consideration.
The Minister, however assured the chiefs and the labor unions that the NPP government will ensure the region received a fair share of the national cake and that includes addressing their concerns with the appropriate bodies.
In September 2016, Tamale and Cape Coast Polytechnics were declared to have passed the reassessment and were subsequently declared Technical Universities by an Executive Order.
