The National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) has directed public universities to remove all staff aged above 65 from the government payroll.
According to a letter from the NCTE to all public universities, only academic staff aged between 60-65 must be given post-retirement contracts effective the 31st of this month.
The letter signed by the Executive Secretary of NCTE, Professor Mohammed Salifu advised institutions which wish to retain staff aged above 65 to reassign such persons as “consultants” and pay them from their Internally Generated Funds.
Making reference to Article 199 (4) of the 1992 Constitution which states, that retired public officers must not be engaged for a period exceeding five years after retirement, the letter said universities have no basis for retaining such persons on the government payroll.
In the meantime, the NCTE and Ministry of Education say they will continue to hold discussions with the Public Services Commission and the Ministry of Finance on how post-retirement contract staff above age 65 should be treated.
