Technical University-Government Impasse: The Leverage

One frustrating aspect of industrial action is that any union member who does not support the call is generally considered dissenting. However, it can be unjust to succumb to such pressure and echo union’s call for strike, especially, when crucial ethical, professional issues are completely sidelined in the quest for better staff remuneration. The full-blown industrial action by technical universities (TU) ought to be analysed, not only from employee-employer point of view, but also from the perspectives of the customer i.e. the learner or  other primary stakeholder – and by association the parents, tax-payer, industry, community. No one is averse to some extra money, yet the ground for demanding such money should align with classroom reality and currency of body of knowledge being imparted to the 21^st Century vocational learner.

The most worrying part of industrial action by learning institutions remains that it is almost always motivated by staff needs. The harsh silencing of the customer – the taught – lends an ironic dimension to industrial actions. In business ethics, the customer is always right, yet each time, learning institutions and governments flesh out monetary issues – the former seeking more, the latter seeking less payment, the taught is not consulted. Unfair! We are dealing with the millennial generation, which is very distrustful of authority due to such dubiousness and neglect. That generation considers authority selfish; within the educational context, both teacher and administrator constitute part of the authority that the millennial generation distrusts.

And they have several reasons for suspicion within the context of this layered industrial action: The Technical Education Workers Union (TEWU) is agitating that it has not been part of the negotiation. Administrators also have their own dimension. Meanwhile, the negotiation has gotten to the stage where Government feels it has made overly concessions to the TUs, who in turn are not satisfied with the offer on the table. This could have been the stage where the strike could have been halted, so that Government’s offer could be referred to TU constituents. They could have discussed the offer at length for an informed consensus on acceptance or otherwise. By this rejection, the representatives have, in a way, disenfranchised constituents.

Ironically, all the major stakeholders but the taught are speaking; who speaks for the silenced learner? Since there has been no reference to the actual working environment, pertinent questions need to be asked in order to place the industrial action in the appropriate professional context: What type of curricula are being run by the TUs? Are learners being taught what they need to survive in the 21^st Century workplace? How are learners being taught? Are TU classrooms experiential learning spaces where competent knowledge is created and shared between the teacher and the taught? Are TU curricula based on the global Knowledge Economy? How has 21^st Information Technology impacted both theoretical and practical instruction in the TU classroom? What is industry opinion of the skills TU graduates present to the workforce? It is time the learner spoke.

If these questions drove the negotiations, it would imply a simultaneous consideration of the needs of both teacher and taught, which would be the ethical approach. The educational system has continued to be teacher-centred, so learners constantly get shortchanged. The unassertive nature of the average Ghanaian means that the marginalized youth might not muster the courage to question the status quo. Therefore, the grown-ups must do the ethical thing by making students’ learning interests premium in the negotiation for better staff remuneration.

Currently, the TU classroom is bogged down by a poor research culture, though technical universities elsewhere are known by high-powered research which continues to improve quality existence across the globe. Universities in other communities are championing the Knowledge Economy in their classrooms, directing learners to quality researched information on the World Wide Web. In the Ghanaian TU classroom, a cross-section of teachers rather limit learners to scanty information in local books, emaciated material labelled handouts, which learners must procure. Even though students pay ICT fee, the TUs do not invest significantly in ICT to enable teaching/learning to be immersed in technology. Furthermore, many teachers blissfully operate in the traditional classroom only, technologically disempowering learners across human endeavours.

The World Bank has emphasized that jobs anchor economic growth, so nations must invest in quality education and training, backgrounded by the digital economy. Ghanaian universities are failing in that direction – NABCO is a living proof. The teeming mass unemployment is another constant reminder. Clearly, there is an urgent need for a holistic approach to TU issues, and special emphasis must be placed on training and curricula.

One wonders why the TUs did not fight the NCTE academic audit, a bizarre activity which precipitated this migration. Apart from the sad fact that it did not use industrial parameters, in some cases, some auditors lied blatantly about teacher’s qualifications. The TU community did not fight the disservice. Moreover, the technician career is being rapidly extinguished, which implies an eventual extinction of hands-on training. Indeed, Stakeholders are collaborating to kill the job creation potential of the TUs. Consequently, disillusioned youth receive dubious divine calls, become scammers and other high-tech fraudulent elements, and we are collective victims. If we nurture the TU system, we protect ourselves, our children, and our property.

This is no time to drag issues that benefit TU staff only; address all issues that could compel the TUs to invest in the learning human capital. Invest in 21^st Technological education. They say the only language government understands is strike. Conversely, the only language the people understand is money; therefore, migrate the entire TU system. Government has its part, TU administrative machineries have their role, teachers have the key responsibility, and students have a duty. Let all play their roles simultaneously for a balanced well-being. Our collective call!