It is only in Ghana that a sensitive position like education can be entrusted to a clueless person like Ablakwa!
It is only in Ghana that a sensitive position like education can be entrusted to a clueless person like Ablakwa!
IDRIS PACAS 9 years ago
The name of the money is RESEARCH AND BOOK ALLOWANCES.
Allowances are monies paid for work done or for work to done. And here, the work is to
1. write and publish books and
2. conduct research whose findings solve our p ... read full comment
The name of the money is RESEARCH AND BOOK ALLOWANCES.
Allowances are monies paid for work done or for work to done. And here, the work is to
1. write and publish books and
2. conduct research whose findings solve our problems in Ghana.
The questions is 'Where are the books written by the lecturers?' If the writer is a student or lecturer, he can walk into his institution's library and check for himself.
Mr Writer, tell Potag and Utag leaders to publish the list of books written by their members. The allowances are not meant for them to use to read books/works done by others. As for the research forget; it takes some lecturers two to three years to publish one paper whose findings solve no problem in Ghana.
Academicians are not politicians. Academicians make logical arguments. The saying that the allowances are part of their conditions of services makes no sense if the the work for which they are paid is not being done.
Forget of vague comparisons. Many teachers at the SHS hold the same qualifications that most poly lecturers hold; most lecturers at the polys hold master's. The SHS teachers handle many more students. In the poly, the lecturers have teaching assistants who do most of the work for them.
Yet, lecturers take more than 4 or 5 times the salary of teachers. The fatter salary is paid to the lecturers for research which will translate into books and papers. Where are the books?
Academics is strictly different from politics. If you want to enjoy those 'evil' benefits politicians enjoy, leave the academia and go and go join them.
Akwasi 9 years ago
Idris,
Where did you get the statement that Book and Research Allowances are to write and publish books only? It is impossible for every lecturer to publish a book. Even in the universities in advanced countries, not all le ... read full comment
Idris,
Where did you get the statement that Book and Research Allowances are to write and publish books only? It is impossible for every lecturer to publish a book. Even in the universities in advanced countries, not all lecturers publish books. Lecturers recommend books for their students and they buy books written by other colleagues and read publications by other colleagues, so BRA is for both buying and publishing. What you need to ask for is for publications and you will be shown their publications or you can look it up. Lecturers who do not publish have the contracts abrogated and promotions are based on publications. Some of the research findings may be important for Ghana, others may not but that is research. It may not be important now but could be in years to come or an insignificant finding in Ghana could have an impact on a drug manufacturing company abroad. Would you recommend that our student doctors should be taught how to treat diseases that only happen in Ghana? I guess Ebola will not be part of it. Some studies have been going on for 20 years so time taken for research finding is irrelevant. Point (2) is right on target but unfortunately (i) the amount given per year is so insignificant that lecturers have to supplement with their own salaries. Elsewhere, where there is something akin to the National fund, Universities have the equipment and everything that you need to perform your research. Unfortunately that is not so in Ghana.
With your line of reasoning, I am not surprised you missed the points of my article. The two main points of my article are (i) the lack of structures in place to implement the policy and (ii) continuity of the funding. At the end of the first paragraph, I said I had nothing against the idea of a national research fund. Using biomedical research as an example, I pointed out structures that should be in place before funds are disbursed. If you believe these structures need not be there, say it and tell us what should be in place before disbursement. My second emphasis was maintenance, whether two, five or ten years from now, there will still be money available for research and whether it will be fair or biased looking at examples such as GETFUND and NHIS. Please channel your arguments against these two points, which is what I am emphasizing.
IDRIS PACAS 9 years ago
Akwasi, argue academically.
First, I did not say that BRA is only meant for book publishing. Reread my comments. When the lecturers publish the articles, aren't they promoted and given salary increment for that?
The que ... read full comment
Akwasi, argue academically.
First, I did not say that BRA is only meant for book publishing. Reread my comments. When the lecturers publish the articles, aren't they promoted and given salary increment for that?
The question is 'What do we as the nation who are the funders get?
If the lecturers need the money to be buy books written by others, then how many of such books must they buy or be buying? Do you the amount they receive? Nearly most books and publications are online.
Education is never about the ideal situation; it's about using knowledge to solve your problems. Comparing their situation to that of their colleagues outside, the lecturers are continuously misleading themselves. They should compare their fat salaries to the lean salaries of teachers at the SHS who have the same qualification as they.
React to my argument concerning the workload and salaries. TAs do all the work for the lecturers. Even when the lecturers write handouts, they sell them to students by force.
Nearly all the research work done and published are funded by international organisations such as WHO, FAO, IMF and IFAD.
You may read this article: Scrap off book and research allowances.
Akwasi 9 years ago
When lecturers publish articles, the get promoted. Great, how do they get money to research - BRA. Where do they get money to pay to journals to publish their reserach - BRA.
What does the nation get - how many articles fr ... read full comment
When lecturers publish articles, the get promoted. Great, how do they get money to research - BRA. Where do they get money to pay to journals to publish their reserach - BRA.
What does the nation get - how many articles from Ghanaian lecturers have you read in the last year. How many symposia and conferences have you attended. Check ghanabiomedicalconvention.org which I organized and look at the abstracts of researches being done in Ghana for Ghanaians. I am currently writing an article on breast cancer after using my own money to screen 3000 women nationwide.
Who will spend time, energy and money to write and pay publishing companies to print a book and freely put it online. Are you nuts. No book worth its source is free.
Every University appoints TAs. They are normally the best in class and help with the workload. When I was in the varsity, we were 18 in class. We had a TA for tutorials and one for practicals. Now imagine standing and teaching a class of 600 students, do continuous assessments every three weeks, set mid semester exams, set end of semester exams, do practicals as many as possible so that students will get the feel of it and tell me that you do not need the help of TAs. Compare this load to a teacher at SHS.
Are we not ashamed that as a country, international organizations fund our research. They fund research that is of interest to them and that might not be of interest to Ghana. So we can not depend on them solely.
I think I have answered most of your queries. Now answer mine. Do you think that as at today, if lecturers agree to the National fund, everything - libraries, equipment, infrastructure and continuity are in place to implement the fund. Do not say yes like the minister who says we are prepared for ebola when there is no containment facility or gear.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
The article I am working on at the moment. prompted by this farcical research and book allowance brouhaha is titled thus, and how to redress the debilitating situation which is holding us down.
This writer's argument for r ... read full comment
The article I am working on at the moment. prompted by this farcical research and book allowance brouhaha is titled thus, and how to redress the debilitating situation which is holding us down.
This writer's argument for retaining an inimical system is so fatuous and fallacious that one can't believe it is coming from an academic.
1. The fact that civil servants and politicians are enjoying all those colonial allowances (I thought they had been converted into the Single Spine Salaries thus causing the over-bloating of the salary budget which is being mentioned as the major cause of the econ malaise in Ghana presently) doesn't mean that govt cannot correct such a gross anomaly in another sector. In fact, the very allowances can easily be shown to be the very reasons why our academics CANNOT write and publish! One needs to read books and journals costing more than $400 in order to write even a cutting edge article! When we tried to get a copy of Rattray's book on the Asantes in the mid-90s from Amazon, the price tag was a whooping $500! Yes, some books can be expensive and when bought must be put in some libraries for all to have access to countrywide, as prevail in civilised nations. You need a book and you'd find out that another univ. library has got it and it is ordered by the librarian for you. So just think what the $7m per annum wasted on these allowances since 1995 could have done to transform all the libraries and labs in all those institutions!
Since I had already written an article on the subject spelling out what should be done, I'd rather post it here for all to read. Besides, I intend to write another piece showing why the present system is dysfunctional and must be scrapped.
Andy-K
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Below is the article I mentioned above. This writer only dealt with the third-tiered level of funding which I mentioned. Of course, the govt's proposal is grossly inadequate but is up to the academics, etc. to come out with w ... read full comment
Below is the article I mentioned above. This writer only dealt with the third-tiered level of funding which I mentioned. Of course, the govt's proposal is grossly inadequate but is up to the academics, etc. to come out with what the best system is, not continue to insist of maintaining the farcical system which just put money into their pockets at the expense of developing a rational and civilised system.
THE BOOK AND RESEARCH ALLOWANCES BROUHAHA
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) are currently embroiled in a dispute with government over the cancellation of book and research allowances to lecturers in the tertiary institutions of Ghana. Threatened strike actions have just been suspended pending the outcome of negotiations between the parties to the dispute. I urge government not to buckle to these threats and dastardly blackmail.
Some of us were horrified when we read of the institution of these book and research allowances in the tertiary institutions in the mid-1990s by the NDC Rawlings regime. I wrote against it on the Okyeame forum and received a lot of support from forumers, many of them lecturers in tertiary institutions in the West. A couple of professors from the universities in Ghana on sabbaticals in the US sent me private mails agreeing with me and disagreeing with the new order that was just announced. I was myself then, besides a graduate student and teaching assistant in the University of Bergen, a research assistant at Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI), the largest development and human rights research institute in Scandinavia. A rich country like Norway would not dream of such insane dole outs of public money to lecturers.
I would like to reiterate my objection to what is a gross aberration in the development process designed to just cushion the take home pay of lecturers rather than boost any serious book acquisition, teaching and research efforts, and therefore back the cancellation of the gross anomaly. I would also like to suggest some rational measures to replace the existing wasteful practice, a cynical joke which tax payers must not be burdened with any longer, having just recently been spared some “by force” road toll in Legon.
Those who support the present egregious practice are free to supply to us its evaluation, giving us the number of publications - peer reviewed or not - which each of the recipients have authored over the years and how well they have improved their teaching practices.
It is a fact that our tertiary institutions lack publications to support any meaningful research and teaching, as a visit to any of their main libraries, such as Balme Library in Legon, will show. But the solution is not a privatisation of measures to acquire such publications. The first step in resolving the problem is stocking their libraries, both main and departmental ones, with the latest publications: newspapers, magazines, journals, books, audio visuals, micro films, data bases, etc. Yes, stocking the libraries shall be the main focus.
In conjunction with the above, the book shops on the campuses must be regularly stocked with same publications. In view of this, the university publishing presses must be revamped to secure the rights to publish certain books locally, instead of the present practice of even publishing books for primary schools abroad! It is simply gross!
As it would not be financially and logistically feasible to buy and stock all publications, there must be a selection process to acquire relevant ones only. There are some standard, mainstream publications – books, journals, magazines and newspapers - which it’d be a matter of course to acquire. Books that form part of the curricula, which curricula must be reviewed regularly to include new publications, would be acquired routinely. New books, however, require some element of discretion and lecturers within departments may collectively deliberate upon which to acquire for their institutes, and eventually add to the reading list.
Publishers regularly send catalogues of upcoming publications to educational and research institutions and libraries. Steps must be taken to get such catalogues from both local and foreign publishers. As the practice was in CMI - and I believe still is - the catalogues are passed round from the library to the researchers upstairs to mark any of the publications they want to be acquired for the library, or their own use. If you want a personal copy to keep, one is acquired for you and you pay for it from your own pocket, benefiting from the hefty subsidy the publishers give to the library. If you do not want a copy, you use the one acquired for the library and return it after using it. I availed myself of the opportunity to acquire a couple of books for myself at knocked down prices, one of them not even related directly to my studies, Africa Ark by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, which provided me with great insight about the peoples of the Horn of Africa, their past and the development challenges we Africans face.
RESEARCH FUNDS
There is need for a three-tiered source of publicly funded funds to lecturers and researchers who want to carry out research requiring funding – the departmental, the university/polytechnic level and the national level.
Funds must be provided to each department to fund some minimum level of research in their fields of specialisation, which fund lecturers shall compete for, or just be granted some funding from for minor expenses linked to their field works, for example. That way, they can build up their research capabilities and capacities to world class levels, capable of attracting independently/privately funded researches and consultancies. We can expect those in the physical and engineering sciences to come out with innovative findings and discoveries which can be commercialised.
There must be a bigger research fund at the university/polytechnic level available to all departments and institutes. Each year, a certain number of researches must be funded on specific areas of interest that contribute to knowledge and the development of Ghana and Africa in general. Lecturers apply to such a fund in competition with each other by presenting research proposals and budget. Not even in the recognised Ivy League institutions of the West are all lecturers undertaking research from one year to another necessitating funding them. After all, there are specialised research institutes with full time researchers undertaking research into vital issues for their states. What about Ghana?
The government must maintain a national fund for research into areas of concern to the government and the public. In view of this, the government shall specify the area it wants to be researched and invites researchers to present research proposals and budget to carry them out. A panel of scholars running the fund shall determine the winner/s. This suggestion is nothing novel but simply what pertains in the civilised nations. The Federal Government of the USA is thus the largest source of research funding in the US, for example.
In spite of the fact that Ken Kuranchie came out from prison, realised that Ghanaians are not civilised and blurted it out just like that, it does not mean that we cannot begin to emulate some of the civilised ways of the people acclaimed to be civilised, if we intend to get out of the ditch into which some have run the state of Ghana since the demise of Kwame Nkrumah. Or, should I say, since the grandfathers and great grand uncles of some of us handed over the affairs of the Gold Coast to the wannabe leaders of the new nation tagged Ghana?
Besides these suggestions, the tertiary institutions must be proactive in seeking private individuals and corporate bodies to set up foundations and legacies to support research within respective departments.
Andy C. Y. Kwawukume
cyandyk@ymail.com
Akwasi 9 years ago
Andy
I pity you cos I knew you will send me something like this - abstract and theories. Do you mean to tell me that the BRA paid to lecturers is the source of all this problem. because of the BRA, the government can not sto ... read full comment
Andy
I pity you cos I knew you will send me something like this - abstract and theories. Do you mean to tell me that the BRA paid to lecturers is the source of all this problem. because of the BRA, the government can not stock libraries in the University. Do you firmly believe that once the govt cancels it, it is going to stock libraries with the money. All these proposal are there, but it is not the priority of the government. African leaders and politicians are interested in chop, chop chop, period. Read my article well. I mentioned that so long as structures have not been put in place the national fund is bogus and your article supports this. First, all that you are saying about the ell stocked library is non-existent and that is not because of BRA but lack of foresight. Two, which government do you know just proposes a research fund without structures in place to regulate how it is disbursed, priority areas for research, what goes where, how much goes where, and how it is going to be sustained. The Ghana government hasn't even come out to say what it wants to achieve with this National fund. The gov't proposed 15 million cedis and it claims to have paid 3.75 million and when asked where the money was, there was no answer. The VAT and 17 taxes this year alone should have a percentage deposited into the National Health insurance scheme. National Health is in shambles because no money has been put in this year. primary schools can not buy chalk because the money hasn't been paid, and you think it is the BRA and salaries. Years ago, I depended on ghanaweb and used it for arguments. Don't, it is a different ball game here. If you were here, you will know that companies are folding up everyday and sponsorship from them or private foundations are almost zero. The constitution of Ghana states that 1% of the budget must be allocated towards research. Ask the govt if that money has ever been released.
Jamkle Dickson 9 years ago
It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps res ... read full comment
It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps resides as an economic refugee will not do. These includes, airlifting millions of dollars to football players, using millions of Ghana cedis to change the number plates of government vehicles, distributing fuel coupons to government official and their aides, which they give to their trotro drivers and girls friends, paying false judgement debts, etc. Can't these monies be used to stock the libraries and populace the national research fund? Who said a Ghanaian workers or lecturer is over paid by the migration unto the single spine salary? How much are we earning compared to a cleaner in Norway? IMF and similar institutions many times contradict the very things they preach. They want people living in developing countries to have decent living conditions but not decent pay. What a shame! I have lived in the Scandinavia for scores of years. No University lecturer uses his salary to buy printer, cartridge, subscribe for journal articles or fund participation in conferences. Things are properly organised in such countries that is why people migrate there for economic reasons. In most Universities there are even development fund that support faculty members to develop research idea not even to talk about the research itself. These facilities provide minimal fund for academics across the board aside those that are available to compete for. Recently, two colleagues from a University in one of such countries traveled on the development fund of their university to visit our department to discuss a research idea, we had not even reached the writing of the proposal stage. I think Andy has been out of Ghana for many years and is dead to what pertains in his country of birth.
If all the above does not make sense, here is what should be logical. UTAG is not against the establishment of a national research fund. In fact, the idea was originally mooted by UTAG. What UTAG disagrees with is to use a component of our negotiated condition of service, Book and Research Allowances, to fund it. The labour law of Ghana says that an employer cannot vary a negotiated condition of an employee unilaterally. Who ever lives in a civilised society like Norway (where Andy has ever lived is or living in) should respect this provision of law prima facie. Government announced its intention to replace the BRA with a nation research fund in December 2013 when the academic year had already began in August 2013 without any consultation whatsoever. Is anyone saying, as knowledgeable as University lecturers are expected to be, UTAG should accept such a unilateral move in this 21st century? Is this what is done in a civilised country? Is it democratic and does it promote and protects the citizenry or any group of persons?
The forward is that government must pay the BRA for the 2013/2014 and continue to pay it until both parties have reached an understanding regarding whether it should be replaced by another facility e.g. a national research fund with clear modus operandi of such a replacement facility. Why is government rushing this whole establishment of a national research fund? Both government and UTAG must work together to plan such a facility. UTAG members are not kids and they cannot be deceived with an empty promise-a notional research fund.
Akwasi 9 years ago
In response, the single spine is not the cause of econ malaise in Ghana. Top economist have argued against it and the government has not responded. That is beside the point. It is good you are mentioning that books are soo ex ... read full comment
In response, the single spine is not the cause of econ malaise in Ghana. Top economist have argued against it and the government has not responded. That is beside the point. It is good you are mentioning that books are soo expensive to buy that it will have been better if they were bought for libraries. It would interest you to note that anytime any government of Ghana withdraws subsidies from one sector to improve another sector, it never happens and the money ends in someone else pocket. So my argument is, National fund is a good idea, however, structures are not in place for its implementation and next year there will be no money in the fund. Researchers will have nothing. This is reality. how did you come by the 7 million per annum figure.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Akwasi,
Read this article below to see how external observers see the single spine as a major part of the problem facing govt and the economy.
The $7m was given in one article on the subject as what govt has been doling ... read full comment
Akwasi,
Read this article below to see how external observers see the single spine as a major part of the problem facing govt and the economy.
The $7m was given in one article on the subject as what govt has been doling out to the lecturers per annum. Gross, I say!
The world has become used to the idea of Africa being on the march. In the past decade, after two decades of stagnation, the continent’s economy has nearly doubled in size on a per-capita basis, thanks to a virtuous circle of strong economic growth – helped by high commodities prices and Chinese-funded infrastructure investments – as well as better governance.
And few countries typify the “Africa rising” story better than Ghana, the west African nation famous for its gold and cocoa, and most recently oil.
Some of the gilt came off the Ghanaian miracle last weekend. The government announced that it was seeking talks with the International Monetary Fund about an assistance programme.
Ghana’s malaise has an old-fashioned feel. The government anticipated too much revenue from its recently found oil reserves and overspent. The money was used not on infrastructure and education that would lift long-term potential growth. It was frittered away paying higher salaries to civil servants.
It is a classic example of mismanagement, and one that demonstrates that while progress has been real, strong and widespread in Africa, there remain plenty of traditional fragilities. Investors need a cautious approach to the “rising” mantra.
Public-sector pay accounted last year for nearly 65 per cent of Ghana’s total tax revenue after the public wage bill jumped roughly 75 per cent over two and a half years. Revenues have not kept pace, jacking up the fiscal deficit, which last year it hit more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product. Interest rates have soared and the currency, the cedi, has plunged nearly 40 per cent this year, making it the world’s worst-performing currency ahead even of the Ukrainian hryvnia and the Syrian pound.
Ghana is the second country in Africa to seek talks with the IMF for emergency support. It is unlikely to be the last. After a rosy decade, the continent is having to adapt to lower Chinese growth and hence weaker commodity prices. Africa is still home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. For example, Ethiopia has transformed in 20 years from a famine-ravaged nation into a destination for savvy and well-known private equity groups such as KKR.
But a combination of lower commodity prices, strikes, reform fatigue and conflict in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, have put a brake on the expansion. The IMF forecast that sub-Saharan Africa will grow this year by 5.8 per cent is a quick rate by any standard but not the magic annual 7 per cent that guarantees doubling the size of the economy every decade.
It is not all bad news. Ghana’s response to its setback is encouraging. The country has implemented many politically difficult measures to rein in spending, including a freeze of public sector salaries and hiring, an increase in value added tax rates and subsidy cuts. A full-blown IMF bailout should not be necessary. That is a far cry from the sort of crises African countries experienced in the 1980s and 1990s.
For African leaders, the lessons of Ghana and Zambia are clear: the miracle needs nurturing. Even after years of strong growth, Africa should be cautious about taking on debt, and careful about expenditure. African governments – and particularly Nigeria – need to broaden their tiny tax bases and improve collection rather than raising rates.
For investors, the lessons are no less striking. The African story may be strong but they need to be selective. Economies will overheat occasionally and suffer growing pains. Flare-ups are inevitable in a continent of 54 states. But just as the 1997 crisis did not derail Asia’s rise, neither Ghana’s crisis nor the one in Zambia can stop the continent’s steady advance.
Akwasi 9 years ago
CY,
This tell me straight away that you do not live in Ghana. This is what they see. Is it true? No it is not. Single spine was implemented starting from 2009. Top economists in their annual speeches outlined and gave data ... read full comment
CY,
This tell me straight away that you do not live in Ghana. This is what they see. Is it true? No it is not. Single spine was implemented starting from 2009. Top economists in their annual speeches outlined and gave data that showed that payment of salaries account for only 42% and challenged the government to come out with his figures. Nothing from the government. Note that in June 2012, when I returned to Ghana, the dollar was 2.0 cedis. In January 2014, the dollar was at 2,3 cedis, 6 months later, in July 2014, the dollar is at 3.9 cedis. Are you blaming this on the 7 million lecturers have been receiving annually. So from your argument, if BRA is cancelled and salaries reduced, the economy will recover. Sorry CY, the economy will not. It is the massive corruption that is crippling the economy not slaries and BRA. In the latter part of 2012, massive amounts of money were given out freely just for elections. False judgement debts to the tune of almost half a billion cedis (then 250 million dollars) have been paid out to cronies. Massive projects (half a billion cedis) have had the monies gone to individual pockets. 83 ministers in Ghana, each taking home at least 20,000 cedis a month. A deputy minister says she is in the govt to make a million dollars.
It is the massive corruption that has crippled the economy. Tell whoever wrote the article you are using to open their eyes or better still come down and ascertain things yourself.
k. k 9 years ago
Please send this article to the Ghanaian Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times for publication so that many people would read it.Thank you.
Please send this article to the Ghanaian Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times for publication so that many people would read it.Thank you.
shabo 9 years ago
Ok,
I will do.
Ok,
I will do.
Li 9 years ago
Good piece;quite revealing.If government insists on abolishing the BRA then lecturers' promotion criteria should also be revised.If lecturers can be promoted to next rank based solely on their lecturing (classroom) job then g ... read full comment
Good piece;quite revealing.If government insists on abolishing the BRA then lecturers' promotion criteria should also be revised.If lecturers can be promoted to next rank based solely on their lecturing (classroom) job then government should go ahead an cancel the BRA.
Baba Tunde Christopher 9 years ago
Hi Akwasi, it is disgraceful that you should be championing a course you have no or little knowledge about. Which University in the so called first world pays a lecturer for no work done. How can you pay someone to go and buy ... read full comment
Hi Akwasi, it is disgraceful that you should be championing a course you have no or little knowledge about. Which University in the so called first world pays a lecturer for no work done. How can you pay someone to go and buy books written by his colleagues with probably less certificates. Since the books and research allowance was instituted, can you tell how many technical books have come out of our universities.? You see, you talk like a typical ignorant Ghanaian who thinks that the higher your certificate the more important your work. Akwasi, that is simply childish. What you fail to understand is that the national research fund will not only benefit the university lecturers alone but would be made available for all the scientific communities in Ghana. Idiots like you keep complaining of no much support for Dr. Safo Kantanka's course and several people in various endsavours. Yes, the truth is the million of cedis pay annually for national research goes to the lecturers and their cohorts for doing nothing. Kindly be reminded that there are more jobs which do not necessary require Phd yet more important than lecturing. Take farming for example. One can recall medical officers, and simply begs the question how many of them have Phd. You may visit a salary administrator for tutorial and stop eshibiting your ignorance in public. Thanks
Akwasi 9 years ago
Baba Tunde
Looks like you do not understand the issues well and not seeing the point of my article. The two main points of my article are (i) the lack of structures in place to implement the policy and (ii) continuity of the ... read full comment
Baba Tunde
Looks like you do not understand the issues well and not seeing the point of my article. The two main points of my article are (i) the lack of structures in place to implement the policy and (ii) continuity of the funding. At the end of the first paragraph, I said I had nothing against the idea of a national research fund. Note that the Government said that he was abolishing the research and book allowances given to lecturers (not everybody) and replacing it with the national research fund so lecturers can apply for it for their research, so from the government’s own statement, we are talking about lecturers.
Using biomedical research as an example, I pointed out structures that should be in place before funds are disbursed. If you believe these structures need not be there, say it and tell us what should be in place before disbursement. My second emphasis was maintenance, whether two, five or ten years from now, there will still be money available for research and whether it will be fair or biased, based on what is happening to NHIS, GETFUND etc. Please channel your arguments against these two points, which is what I am emphasizing.
I still stand by my argument that, the National Research Fund is a serious project in Ghana, and the government is not putting in the right plans and structures to implement this policy and that tells me it is one of the gimmicks of politics.
For the first part of your argument
Tell me what is wrong if you buy a book to teach students written by somebody without the same degree as you but has had practical experience in that area. Take any University abroad and check if every lecturer has written a book – they also recommend books written by others. Check the level of education of “experts” government hires and pays millions to, to tell us what to do. Everybody learns something new everyday till you die. Never did I say that PhDs are know all.
If I am given say 1000 cedis a year for book and research and in order to perform a successful research project which determines my promotion, I need 1000 cedis, common sense will tell me to invest in the research at the expense of the book. That is setting your priorities right. Can you tell me sincerely if you were a lecturer, that you will use 500 for books and let the research die off. No University abroad pays a lecturer for no work done, but the Universities have everything in place to ensure you do work and if you don’t, they are justified to fire you. Can you say the same of Ghana.
So Baba Tunde, read the article carefully.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
I read your piece carefully and I think it is fatuous and fallacious. I gave some reasons why.
Now, just as you fear that govt may not be able to sustain the nascent proposal in 5 or 10 years time, is it not possible for y ... read full comment
I read your piece carefully and I think it is fatuous and fallacious. I gave some reasons why.
Now, just as you fear that govt may not be able to sustain the nascent proposal in 5 or 10 years time, is it not possible for you to understand that govt CAN NO LONGER support the present dysfunctional and inimical system, which you yourself hinted that was going to break budget with the inclusion of teaching training lecturers?
Your reasons for supporting the present system are simply porous. Read my article and you'd learn something.
Andy-K
Akwasi 9 years ago
Where is your article. i will like to read it.
Where is your article. i will like to read it.
Akwasi 9 years ago
I will be waiting for your article. You can pdf it to aanyanf@gmail.com. I hope you are living and working in Ghana and will give practical reasons and solutions taking the situation in Ghana now, not abstract ones. I gave up ... read full comment
I will be waiting for your article. You can pdf it to aanyanf@gmail.com. I hope you are living and working in Ghana and will give practical reasons and solutions taking the situation in Ghana now, not abstract ones. I gave up a lucrative job in the US and returned two years ago to help so I have been on both sides. Let's see your article.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
First of all, the first article I mentioned is already posted up there, The Book and Research Allowances Brouhaha. You'd see that I cover a wider territory than you did though you deepen upon the third-tiered funding system I ... read full comment
First of all, the first article I mentioned is already posted up there, The Book and Research Allowances Brouhaha. You'd see that I cover a wider territory than you did though you deepen upon the third-tiered funding system I mentioned.
No, I gave up on academia in the mid-90s. Even had a bet with a S. African visiting Fellow, Prof. Vincent Maphai, that I would never end up in any university as a lecturer. I run my own corner shop, so-called business centre, in London at the moment.:-) Not easy but I am surviving.
Andy-K
Akwasi 9 years ago
Sorry, you gave up academia. After getting free tuition in Ghana, you move to London and set up shop there. Why don't you bring your shop to Ghana to help with the national development. We will see how much you are willing to ... read full comment
Sorry, you gave up academia. After getting free tuition in Ghana, you move to London and set up shop there. Why don't you bring your shop to Ghana to help with the national development. We will see how much you are willing to give up knowing that what you give up will go into someone's pocket.I came down, so can you.
Jamkle Dickson 9 years ago
It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of the things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps ... read full comment
It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of the things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps resides as an economic refugee will not do. These includes, airlifting millions of dollars to football players, using millions of Ghana cedis to change the number plates of government vehicles, distributing fuel coupons to government official and their aides, which they give to their trotro drivers and girls friends, paying false judgement debts, etc. Can't these monies be used to stock the libraries and populace the national research fund? Who said a Ghanaian workers or lecturer is over paid by the migration unto the single spine salary? How much are we earning compared to a cleaner in Norway? IMF and similar institutions many times contradict the very things they preach. They want people living in developing countries to have decent living conditions but not decent pay. What a shame! I have lived in the Scandinavia for scores of years. No University lecturer uses his salary to buy printer, cartridge, subscribe for journal articles or fund participation in conferences. Things are properly organised in such countries that is why people migrate there for economic reasons. In most Universities there are even development fund that support faculty members to develop research idea not even to talk about the research itself. These facilities provide minimal fund for academics across the board aside those that are available to compete for. Recently, two colleagues from a University in one of such countries traveled on the development fund of their university to visit our department to discuss a research idea, we had not even reached the writing of the proposal stage. I think Andy has been out of Ghana for many years and is dead to what pertains in his country of birth.
If all the above does not make sense, here is what should be logical. UTAG is not against the establishment of a national research fund. In fact, the idea was originally mooted by UTAG. What UTAG disagrees with is to use a component of our negotiated condition of service, Book and Research Allowances, to fund it. The labour law of Ghana says that an employer cannot vary a negotiated condition of an employee unilaterally. Who ever lives in a civilised society like Norway (where Andy has ever lived is or living in) should respect this provision of law prima facie. Government announced its intention to replace the BRA with a nation research fund in December 2013 when the academic year had already began in August 2013 without any consultation whatsoever. Is anyone saying, as knowledgeable as University lecturers are expected to be, UTAG should accept such a unilateral move in this 21st century? Is this what is done in a civilised country? Is it democratic and does it promote and protects the citizenry or any group of persons?
The forward is that government must pay the BRA for the 2013/2014 and continue to pay it until both parties have reached an understanding regarding whether it should be replaced by another facility e.g. a national research fund with clear modus operandi of such a replacement facility. Why is government rushing this whole establishment of a national research fund? Both government and UTAG must work together to plan such a facility. UTAG members are not kids and they cannot be deceived with an empty promise-a notional research fund.
Jamkle Dickson 9 years ago
I do not think Akwasi has mentioned PhDs at all except in the section where is gave an example of categories of researchers that a national fund could target.
I do not think Akwasi has mentioned PhDs at all except in the section where is gave an example of categories of researchers that a national fund could target.
It is only in Ghana that a sensitive position like education can be entrusted to a clueless person like Ablakwa!
The name of the money is RESEARCH AND BOOK ALLOWANCES.
Allowances are monies paid for work done or for work to done. And here, the work is to
1. write and publish books and
2. conduct research whose findings solve our p ...
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Idris,
Where did you get the statement that Book and Research Allowances are to write and publish books only? It is impossible for every lecturer to publish a book. Even in the universities in advanced countries, not all le ...
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Akwasi, argue academically.
First, I did not say that BRA is only meant for book publishing. Reread my comments. When the lecturers publish the articles, aren't they promoted and given salary increment for that?
The que ...
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When lecturers publish articles, the get promoted. Great, how do they get money to research - BRA. Where do they get money to pay to journals to publish their reserach - BRA.
What does the nation get - how many articles fr ...
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The article I am working on at the moment. prompted by this farcical research and book allowance brouhaha is titled thus, and how to redress the debilitating situation which is holding us down.
This writer's argument for r ...
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Below is the article I mentioned above. This writer only dealt with the third-tiered level of funding which I mentioned. Of course, the govt's proposal is grossly inadequate but is up to the academics, etc. to come out with w ...
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Andy
I pity you cos I knew you will send me something like this - abstract and theories. Do you mean to tell me that the BRA paid to lecturers is the source of all this problem. because of the BRA, the government can not sto ...
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It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps res ...
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In response, the single spine is not the cause of econ malaise in Ghana. Top economist have argued against it and the government has not responded. That is beside the point. It is good you are mentioning that books are soo ex ...
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Akwasi,
Read this article below to see how external observers see the single spine as a major part of the problem facing govt and the economy.
The $7m was given in one article on the subject as what govt has been doling ...
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CY,
This tell me straight away that you do not live in Ghana. This is what they see. Is it true? No it is not. Single spine was implemented starting from 2009. Top economists in their annual speeches outlined and gave data ...
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Please send this article to the Ghanaian Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Times for publication so that many people would read it.Thank you.
Ok,
I will do.
Good piece;quite revealing.If government insists on abolishing the BRA then lecturers' promotion criteria should also be revised.If lecturers can be promoted to next rank based solely on their lecturing (classroom) job then g ...
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Hi Akwasi, it is disgraceful that you should be championing a course you have no or little knowledge about. Which University in the so called first world pays a lecturer for no work done. How can you pay someone to go and buy ...
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Baba Tunde
Looks like you do not understand the issues well and not seeing the point of my article. The two main points of my article are (i) the lack of structures in place to implement the policy and (ii) continuity of the ...
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I read your piece carefully and I think it is fatuous and fallacious. I gave some reasons why.
Now, just as you fear that govt may not be able to sustain the nascent proposal in 5 or 10 years time, is it not possible for y ...
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Where is your article. i will like to read it.
I will be waiting for your article. You can pdf it to aanyanf@gmail.com. I hope you are living and working in Ghana and will give practical reasons and solutions taking the situation in Ghana now, not abstract ones. I gave up ...
read full comment
First of all, the first article I mentioned is already posted up there, The Book and Research Allowances Brouhaha. You'd see that I cover a wider territory than you did though you deepen upon the third-tiered funding system I ...
read full comment
Sorry, you gave up academia. After getting free tuition in Ghana, you move to London and set up shop there. Why don't you bring your shop to Ghana to help with the national development. We will see how much you are willing to ...
read full comment
It is simply a shame that people like Andy who schooled in a country he called civilised write this way. Does he know that the Ghanaian government is doing many of the things those rich countries like Norway, which he perhaps ...
read full comment
I do not think Akwasi has mentioned PhDs at all except in the section where is gave an example of categories of researchers that a national fund could target.