President for the University Teachers Association Ghana, University of Ghana chapter Dr. Samuel Nkumban has disclosed that it is worrying that Ghanaian students studying abroad are paid stipends which are higher than the salary of the University Teacher.
“You are a Journalist and you can find out from even GETFUND that we have established with our taxpayers’ money that students that Ghana GETFUND sends abroad earn stipend higher than a lecturer in the University.
“That if you were studying say in Germany for a PhD on GETFUND scholarship, you may be earning something in the range of 1,500 euros or you are going to the UK and you’ll be earning something in the range of 1,300 pounds.”
According to him, for people who sponsored their own education, after several years of schooling and paying for school fees, accommodation and other expenses for research, for a PhD, lecturers are paid monies that do not commensurate with the work they do.
He said currently, lecturers say they are better off sleeping at home and not being paid than working and being paid peanuts for the kind of work they are burdened with.
Dr. Samuel Nkumban indicated that currently, there is an exodus of Lecturers in the Universities across the country; a move which when addressed will affect Tertiary education in the country.
To him, if the government could spend huge sums of money decorating to the Kotoka International Airport, it is imperative that Lecturers who train the next generation of scholars will be paid well.
UTAG has been on strike since January 10, 2022, demanding better conditions of service.
mynewsgh.com