By:brightwebtv.com/Nana asare barimah
One of the reinstated lecturers at the University of Education Winneba (UEW) wants the institution’s governing council to reinstate all dismissed persons as it begins a process to resolve the crisis in the school.
According to the Principal of the Colleges of Languages at UEW, Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, although the move to restore them is welcoming, all dismissed principal officers must be called back too.
UEW’s Governing Council on Wednesday reinstated three lecturers Dr. Emmanuel Osei Sarpong, Dr. Frimpong Kwaku Duku and Prof Ephraim Avea Nsoh.
Last month, the three together with other staff members were sacked after a students’ protest.
They were accused of insubordination, misconduct and breach of internal regulations.
But reacting to the latest development on Eyewitness News, Prof. Nsoh insisted that until the council provides a fair playing ground for all affected persons involved in the matter, the resolution of the impasse will hang in the balance.
“I don’t think this is holistic enough and it appears discriminatory. This is not to say that the council has not made an effort to reinstate us. We really appreciate that but we think that is not good enough because we have some of our colleagues still standing out there. There are other demands but the first goodwill is to say that everybody, come back, and then we can move from there.”
“It was on the same basis all of these people were sacked. But you decide to reinstate three and leave the others, I don’t think that is fair. The best way to resolve this issue is to allow all of them back. There is a problem and if you want to resolve the problem, and one of the steps to solve it is to indicate to the staff and students that you are ready so everyone should come back. The council should do some more, other than that, we haven’t tried to resolve the issue at all.”
According to a statement from the Governing Council of UEW, these reinstatements come after “moves towards reconciliation.”
The Governing Council had earlier urged the affected lecturers “to submit a petition for review of their cases.”
Meanwhile, the school is also set to reopen on April 8, 2019, after it was shut down following student protests
There is also expected to be a review of the academic calendar.
The statement added that the council was concerned that “the current state of affairs is attracting negative reportage for the University on the media landscape, which does not augur well for institutional branding and development.”
Ahead of the re-opening, the statement cautioned that “on-campus resident students will only be allowed into the halls of residence on the two campuses effective Monday, April 8, 2019, and not earlier.”
Students of the UEW have been protesting the recent sackings of some senior staff of the school by the Vice Chancellor.
The situation led to series of demonstrations by students, including a violent one that resulted in the destruction of several school properties, forcing the police to fire tear gas to disperse the angry student protesters who were at the time pelting stones at the security officers.
The demand was also accompanied by calls for lecturers and other staff who have been sacked to be immediately reinstated.
In the heat of the moment, some students felt the sackings were an act of sabotage adding that they will demonstrate until their demands are met.
Students and lecturers have been insisting that the Vice-Chancellor of the school, Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni, must resign for normalcy to return at the school.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey | citinewsroom.com |