Vice Chancellors Ghana has appealed to the government to review and extend the retirement age for university lecturers from 60 to 70 years.
The chancellors underscored the need to retain experienced academics and strengthen the country’s higher education system.
The Executive Secretary of the Vice Chancellors, Dr Sena Kpeglo Freiku, asserted that in today’s global knowledge economy, experienced university lecturers remain invaluable assets whose contribution often matures with age.
He made the remarks while speaking at a forum arguing that the move will address a widening gap in faculty numbers and ensure that academic excellence is maintained across the country’s universities.
According to him, if this proposal is implemented, it would deal with the current brain drain in academia, where highly skilled lecturers are forced into early retirement despite their continued intellectual capacity and willingness to contribute.
He added that the proposal by the Chancellors would apply strictly to academic staff, distinguishing them from administrative or professional employees, whose roles may demand different considerations.
“Universities form part of a global knowledge economy,” Dr Freiku said.
“The university professor is more like the older, the better. What we are proposing is that in order to ensure the long-term capacity of universities and also to promote social autonomy, if the committee could consider maybe extending the retirement age for the academics, not the professionals, to 65 years, with a possibility of about 70,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
