Fijai (W/R), March 12, GNA – The academic staff of the Holy Child College of Education at Fijai in the Western Region has opposed the appointment of Madam Victoria Ghanney as the new principal and called for her immediate removal.
The members argued she did not possess the relevant qualifications, the managerial competencies and skills as stipulated in the College of Education Act 2012, Act 847 to enable her to head the College.
Addressing journalists at a press conference on campus, the Secretary to the Convocation, Mr Lawrence Ewusi-Mensah, said the College would resist any attempt to impose anyone without the academic and managerial competencies to serve as their head.
He said Madam Ghanney did not possess a research postgraduate degree preferably the terminal, which was s a Doctor of Philosophy degree as enshrined in the College of Education Act, 2012, Act 84.
Investigations showed that she also had just a one-year online non-research MSc Degree, a qualification, which would not allow her to teach as a college tutor.
Mr Ewusi-Mensah said the College’s Act also stipulated that an applicant to the position of a Principal should have a strong administrative experience, that is: « The applicant should have held a relevant senior management position for at least five years with proven leadership skills ».
According to him, from the Curriculum Vitae of Madam Ghanney, she had not headed any senior management position before her appointment, which made it a clear violation of the College’s Statutes.
He said even though the Governing Council claimed the appointee was a Senior Lecturer in a university, that lectureship position had arisen due to her long service but not based on academic qualification, which was a prerequisite for every applicant.
Mr Ewusi-Mensah said the staff had also asked for an immediate audit of the academic qualifications and credentials of the appointee to ascertain the veracity of her qualification based on which the Council offered her the position.
“Even though the Academic Staff acknowledges the powers of the Council, we insist that as major stakeholders, the staff cannot work under an unqualified person in a College, which has PhD holders and PhD candidates as tutors,” he said.
Mr Ewusi-Mensah said per the results of the interview conducted for the position, Madam Ghanney came third and questioned why none of those who placed first and second was appointed.
« We, therefore, call on the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Director General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, Minister of Education and other relevant stakeholders to, as a matter of urgency, revoke the appointment with immediate effect ».
