Government has announced new rules to guide post-retirement contracts for academic staff of public universities in the country.
Under the rules, even though the mandatory retirement age for academic staff of public universities shall continue to be 60 years, professorial grade staff, Associate Professors and Professors shall be eligible for post-retirement contracts until the age of 70, in line with constitutional provisions.
Until the current guidelines, that category of staff used to retire at 60 with a few of them being given contracts that came with challenges of payment in the light of receiving their pensions.
Consequently, the Auditor General called for the cancellation of such post-retirement contracts. The Minister of Education Dr Mattew Opoku Prempeh explained that the new rules have become necessary as part of measures to bolster and maintain a critical mass of key academic staff to support the anticipated significant increase in tertiary enrolment as a consequence of the free Senior High school programme.
He said for the professorial category the initial contract shall be for five years up to the age of 65 and afterward, contracts shall be offered subject to need and good health. He explained that specific provision must be made for compensation for all staff on post-retirement contracts and that such staff should be clearly designated and accounted for separately as contract staff in the annual budget of the institution.
