Professor John Aheto, a former rector at GIMPA has blamed the recent brouhaha at the University of Education (UEW), Winneba on political interference.
UEW is in the news again over the dismissal of some lecturers by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the school, Rev. Father Professor Afful-Broni.
Students are demonstrating against this decision and are insisting that the lecturers be reinstated.
On the other hand, UTAG and other stakeholders have sworn to do whatever it takes to bring normalcy back to campus.
Reacting to these developments in an interview on Class FM, Wednesday, Prof Aheto said: “it’s sad we have brought politics into our academics . . . what is happening will affect the quality of education; it will affect morale and it will affect the students above all. It is not in the best interest of education or the nation”.
“You get politicians, you get people who don’t know anything about education and they think they can actually dictate educational policies and situations to people who are experts and have done all the work. When you put somebody somewhere who does not understand what education is; it is very problematic,” he added.
In a way of going forward, Prof Aheto advised that we “go back and right all the wrongs that have happened all these past years in that particular school. For the last five years, there is a lot that has gone on in that university. We need to sit down and look at educational policies and take politics out especially in our tertiary level. When structures are made to work, we can get somewhere, but when people are from remote, manipulating and changing the system into their own favour, nothing will work.”
Call to resign
Responding to calls for the VC to resign, he said: “he (VC) should not have even assumed that position, to begin with; that is the political interference, he should not even have been inaugurated, to begin with…”
" . . if you know what led to the removal of Avoke (former VC); it was an MP who went on radio so many times; actually inciting even the people of the town against Avoke who was actually born and bred in Winneba before he (MP) was born. So there is serious political interference; it doesn’t take a whole nation to bring chaos, it takes one or stup*d people; one idiot to create chaos."
Background
It can be recalled that Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, played a key role in the removal of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Mawutor Avoke.
The Supreme Court quashed a Winneba High court decision that led to their suspension and subsequent dismissal of Prof. Avoke.
Subsequently, lawyers of dismissed former Vice-Chancellor wrote to the school’s Governing Council directing it to prepare the office of their client to enable him to resume work.
Prior to this period, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, swore Reverend Father Professor Anthony Afful-Broni, as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).
This was amidst a warning by law Professor Raymond Atuguba to President Nana Akufo-Addo for abetting illegality, because the induction happened pending the case challenging the removal of the immediate past Vice-Chancellor.
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