The Kumasi branch of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana has criticized the NDC for what it says is the party’s ignorance of the current status of polytechnics and what their real needs are. Responding to President John Mahama's proposal to make polytechnics degree awarding institutions, the Association, said the President lacked a basic understanding of the problems and needs of polytechnics. The President at the NDC manifesto launch last week at Ho announced a programme to upgrade polytechnics into fully-fledged technical universities so they can award degrees. But the Kumasi branch of POTAG says the President and his governing National Democratic Congress were misinformed. The association’s president, Edmond Oppong-Peprah told Joy News that most of the country’s polytechnics were already offering degree programs. Seven out of the ten polytechnics are running degree programmes, he explained. Mr Oppong-Peprah also asserted that the autonomous status of the polytechnics will not permit them to affiliate or serve as mentee institutions as the president suggested. But Minister of Education Lee Ocran suggested that POTAG was being unnecessarily antagonistic. He said the seven polytechnics referred to were only awarding degree in one programme – Bachelor of Technology. He said what NDC manifesto seeks to do is to open opportunities for more degree programmes to be offered. He is hopeful an Exim Bank loan would be available to upgrade the Takoradi Polytechnic into a technical university to enable it award various degrees as well as Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates. “What the government seeks to do is to expand the horizon of the polytechnics so that if people leave the polytechnic with HND, they would not go and start degree at level 100 at the traditional universities,” he said. Mr Lee Ocran noted: “There have been so many applications that National Council for Tertiary Education brought where some polytechnics want to award degrees but they have turned them down because they are not equipped to do that…even with the B-Tech there have been a lot of struggles.” Play the attached audio to listen to the various submissions.