The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, has announced that the University has received financial clearance from government to recruit some 430 new staff to replace those who have left active service.
According to him, the embargo on public sector employment, had a severe impact on the University, which subsequently did not enhance teaching and learning.
While delivering his 2017 congregation address on Saturday, Prof. Oduro Owusu said government has moved in positively to enable it to recruit more staff to serve in various areas including administration and faculty.
“In July, I informed the congregation that the continued lack of financial clearance for recruitment means that the University is severely constrained in the employment of faculty, administrators and other staff. The situation has changed towards a positive direction. The government has now granted financial clearance for us to replace 430 staff who have left the services of the University,” he said.
He however added that “we will continue to appeal to the government to provide additional clearance in order for us to obtain our complement staff.”
The lack of financial clearance to recruit lecturers and other staff for various tertiary institutions in the country has been a major challenge for the smooth running of these institutions.
The dire situation, which has persisted for the past few years, forced the then Mahama government in 2016, to give clearance for the recruitment of over 1,000 staff for the various institutions across the country.
Despite the intervention, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) found earlier in 2017, that the 2,676 academic staff in all the eight public universities, was inadequate to teach and supervise the academic work of more than 128,326 students.
The situation, it observed, is affecting the quality of education amidst concerns that teachers are being asked to do more work for less reward — pushing down the attractiveness of school-level teaching as a career.
But the recent intervention, according to Prof. Oduro-Owusu, will help bring some stability to academics at the school.
He further challenged the 2017 graduates to be good ambassadors of the University through excellence, hard work and teamwork.
A total of over 9,000 students graduated from the University of Ghana at the 2017 November congregation ceremony.
The number includes about 2000 post-graduate students and more than 6000 undergraduates.
The graduates included Citi FM’s Human Resource Manager, Jennifer Anane-Nsiah Barkey, and Sales and Marketing Manager, Peter Omane Mensah Bonsu, who graduated with an MBA in Human Resource and Sales and Marketing respectively.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana