The Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) says it stands by an ultimatum it gave government to revert a decision to set up a Research Fund to replace Book and Research Allowances.

POTAG says if government is bent on establishing a research fund, it can do so without replacing the Book and Research Allowance which polytechnic teachers receive.

"The best thing they [government] can do is they can maintain the status quo, our Book and Research Allowance is paid to us and then they can still create an extra fund…then we can take up from there", said Oswald Atiga, POTAG General Secretary.

POTAG last week issued an ultimatum to government to call a proper stakeholder conference on the issue of book and research allowance in January 2014.

The teachers said the stakeholder conference would help avert developments that might lead to distortions in the academic calendar of the polytechnics.

The association belives government’s attempt to replace the book and research allowance with a research fund was premature and misplaced.

In August this year, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, indicated the intention of government to abolish the current book and research allowance being enjoyed by lecturers in tertiary institutions.

He said government was considering merging all the research allowances into one, to be known as the National Research Fund.

Every lecturer is paid between $400 and $600 a year as book and research allowance. The government spends $7 million yearly on book and research allowance.

But General Secretary of POTAG, Oswald Atiga says establishing a research fund is not the right way to go.

He said given government's poor track record of managing funds, the proposed National Research Fund will not benefit tertiary teachers.

Mr Atiga cited the MP's Common Fund and GetFund as some of the poorly managed funds that government is currently struggling to maintain.