The Heritage newspaper says it has gathered that certain lecturers at the Tamale Polytechnic use their position to abuse lady students by trading class and examination marks as well as grades for sexual favours. The paper quotes a source close to the school as saying that most of the lecturers in the school propose love to the students with the firm promise that they will pass them in their subjects during exams. This lures students who want to pass in those subjects to surrender to the lecturers and they really subject them to sexual orgies. Some of the defiant ladies however pretended to be married by putting on their veils and wedding rings to ward off the Casanova lecturers. A student who does not succumb to a lecturer’s demand without any ‘tangible’ excuse should psyche herself up for failure in the teacher’s paper during exams. What looks even more disturbing is the fact that this issue seems to have been there for years and nothing has been done about it. The canker has more or less been established now at ‘Tam-Poly’ and so hundreds of female students being aware of what is euphemistically called the ‘transaction’ do not worry themselves buying handouts and supplementary books to sundry but only give in for very good remarks. Minister of Education and Sports, Papa Owusu Ankomah when contacted said he had not heard of the sex trade going on at the school but condemned it as illegal, assuming it were true. He promised to find out the veracity of the allegation within three working days. Asked what action he would take against a lecturer confirmed to be selling class and examination marks to female students, Papa Owusu Ankomah noted that the polys are autonomous institutions with governing boards that deal with wide-ranging issues including discipline. He’d rather the Tamale Board deal with the matter, though he would personally investigate, he said, stressing that the alleged act was not only illegal but also immoral. “It is illegal for teachers to do that. You only give marks to deserving students. You don’t give marks for any other reason”. During a visit to the school last Monday, another scandal was reported as having reared its head recently. It was not the sexual abuse thing but a misunderstanding between lecturers on campus. According to a very reliable source, the misunderstanding hinged party politics. The administration of the school had been divided into National Democratic Congress faithful and those who subscribe to the creed of the New Patriotic Party. Source: The Heritage