Committee to manage Wa Polytechnic sworn in

A Three-member Interim Management Committee (IMC) for the Wa Polytechnic has been sworn in to office to replace the 13-member council of the polytechnic, which was dissolved in April  2016, by President John Dramani Mahama.

The IMC, with Professor Amin Alhassan as its Chairman, Mr Chris Arcmann Ackummey as a member, and Mrs Mary Abena Agyepong as its Secretary, is to take charge of the day-to-day management of the polytechnic until a substantive council of the polytechnic is appointed.

The IMC, which is tasked to accomplish its mandate within four months, is expected to exercise powers over the polytechnic council, as well as those of the rector as provided for in the Polytechnic’s Act, 2007, Act 745.

Advice

The President, upon the advice of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), authorised the Ministry of Education to dissolve the Governing Council of the Wa Polytechnic and put in place an Interim Management Committee.

A statement from the Ministry of Education said the terms of reference of the IMC included taking the necessary steps to restore normalcy in the governance and management of the polytechnic by September this year, proposing a road map to conversion readiness for the polytechnic, considering other related matters and submiting biweekly reports on activities to the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and the Ministry of Education.

The interim council is tasked to take appropriate steps, using due process, to recommend candidates for appointment as Rector, Registrar and Finance Officer.

Swearing in the committee, the Minister for Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, on behalf of the President, expressed her gratitude to the members for accepting to undertake such an important and challenging national assignment.

She pledged her ministry’s support for the committee, and promised that the IMC would be given enough room to come out with their own work plan of action to ensure an effective work for the benefit of the polytechnic staff, students and the conversion process of the polytechnic into a technical university.   

Acceptance statement

In his acceptance statement, the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Alhassan, thanked President Mahama for the responsibility bestowed on his team. That, he said, was an indication of the President’s confidence in them. He, therefore, pledged that the committee would work hard to find solutions to the challenges facing the polytechnic.  

The inauguration was attended by the Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr Enoch H. Cobinnah; Executive Secretary of NCTE, Prof. Mohammed Salifu and officials of the ministry.

The decision was necessitated by unresolved and protracted problems in the management and administration of the polytechnic, despite several interventions by the ministry and the NCTE. The situation led to low staff and student morale, negative impact on the development of the polytechnic, which undermined efforts at preparing the polytechnic for conversion to a technical university.

The three-member board was appointed based on their rich management experience and leadership skills relevant to the task.

Alumni

In another development, some alumni of the Wa Polytechnic have expressed optimism that the change of baton at the level of the governing council would have a positive impact on the administration of the institution, and help clear the pile of outstanding non-graduated students in the shortest possible time, writes Michael Quaye, Wa.

In a case highlighting the challenges that engulfed the administration of the school recently, three different year groups who completed Wa Polytechnic have still not graduated.

A fourth year group is in its final semester, and the sense of apprehension about the perpetuation of the status quo has left continuing students in uncertainty.

Also, for two years running, fresh students have not been matriculated.

However, an alumnus of the school and a leading figure of the Coalition of Youth for Positive National Development (CYPOND), a pressure group in the Upper West Region, which was very vocal in the push for the removal of the immediate past governing council, Mr Prosper Puo-ire, said they expected the changes to breathe fresh air into the administration of the school to propel it to the next level of development.

In an interview with Daily Graphic, Mr Puo-ire said the changes were long overdue given the challenges - some of which had resulted in court cases - that had consumed the school during the era of the governing council, Chaired by Prof. Jacob Songsore.

Administration

Prof. Songsore and the school's rector were in court over different matters relating to the administration of the school, meanwhile, the tenure of office for both the registrar and the finance officer had expired.

The absence of those four principal officers of the polytechnic, according to the local chapter of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana

(POTAG), had created a vacuum in the administration of the institution.

The local POTAG embarked on a sit-down strike early this year to force some issues they claimed “were not in consonance with the procedures of the school”.

The Wa Polytechnic is one of four polytechnics that failed to meet the criteria that would upgrade its status into a degree-awarding technical university.

With the new governing board in place, some students told Daily Graphic they were hopeful about a positive change of the circumstances in the school.