Lecturers of the Tamale Polytechnic who threatened to strike over the dismissal of their colleagues found guilty of sexual harassments have failed to carry on the threat.

Two weeks after the date of the planned strike, the members are keeping mute and hoping the Governing Council of the institute will review the punishment. The Heritage managed to contact the local chairman of POTAG, Mohammed Ali, but he surprisingly said he was on his way to pick his children from school and so would not talk

Meanwhile, the resolute council has gone ahead to serve each of the five convicted lecturers their letters of dismissal that give effective date as October 31 of this year. The dismissed lecturers, realizing the difficult strait they are in now, have apparently revoked their hope in the strike action of their colleagues and have filed appeals to the council to review its verdict.

According to some students of Tamale Poly, it was celebration day for some female students who were victims of the sexual harassment when the culprits' dismissal broke out on campus. Many of the ladies openly sung praises to the school authorities, appealing to the Ghana Education Service to replace them with self-respecting and responsible lecturers who would desist from the despicable act of chasing students and punishing those who ward them off.

In a chat, some students of the polytechnic commended The Heritage for the kind of crusade it had launched to save the victims but asked for "more action' which they interpreted as more probes, asserting that the five on their way home are only "the tip of the iceberg." Many more teachers harass female teachers, they alleged.

But a new picture is also developing on the Tamale Poly campus, some female students may be guilty of seduction and temptation; at least that is one school of thought. Among those who talked to The Heritage were about a score who actually appealed to the Governing Council to launch yet another investigation to possibly, bust female students "harassing lecturers for higher examination marks."

Proponents further appealed to the Council to dismiss such female students as soon as they have been established to be guilty of the acts. Other students also said the dismissal of the Head of the Accountancy Department, Mr. Shirazu, as one of the culprits came to them as a jolt, describing him as "innocent of the offence."

The polytechnic secretary, Mr. Yakubu, still was reluctant this second time when the paper ap¬proached him, pleading that, "It is an administrative instruction that has made me voiceless; it is not as if I can't talk." Asked about the poly principal, Mr. Yakubu said "cur¬rently he's traveled to United States of America on a delegation from the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly led by the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Adam Mohammed Amin Adam Anta, and would be back next week.”

In another development, our Northern regional bureau has gathered from lecturers and administrative staff that intake of students this year is bound to take a dip, compared to previous years'. Almost 50% of application forms that should have sold are stuck at the registry unsold. And it has been attributed to the negative image that the conduct of the teachers exposed.

This paper blew the news of the teachers' demand for sex in ex¬change for undeserved class and exam marks and the fact that the bad teachers were failing those who denied them their lustful demands. The paper followed with co-operating with the school to uncover the teachers involved, resulting in five being put on a dismissal list while five were sternly warned to be of better behaviour.

Two weeks ago, when the news of the dismissal was broken by this paper and Joy FM, POTAG, Tamale grew furious and promised a street procession and a sit-down strike to force the poly Governing Council to embrace the offenders back. When the Poly secretary was contacted, he declined giving details, pleading he was not the right person so to do.

Source: The Heritage