General News of Tuesday, 25 May 2004

Source: Larry-Alans Dogbey

GIJ To Redeem Image

The Governing Board of the country?s premier journalism training institution GIJ is investigating the circumstances under which institute awarded a diploma certificates to two students of the school after a confrontation female student Pendiland Wireko-Brobbey at its recent graduation day ceremony.

At a recent meeting with both management and the lecturing body at the Institute, the Board tasked them to consider the unwarranted spotlight placed on the institute by the certificate saga and the strike action by the lecturers, which had cast a huge blur on the image of the institute.

Sources at the institute told the Network Herald that after hearing the side of registrar and Kwamena Ewusi-Brown, the Press Law lecturer whose paper generated the controversy, the Board resolved that the situation be investigated for appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against whoever was found culpable.

They were unanimous in expressing displeasure a how what should be the school?s internal affair was allowed to degenerate to that extent.

Indications indeed are that certain prominent officials of the institute could lose their position. However, institute registrar Kwaku Amponsah who returned to work few days after he was chased out by some students intimated in an interview with the Network Herald that he is prepared for the ultimate which includes dismissal.

?God knows what happened that day, the pressure on me to give her the certificate even though I had put it aside.?

He confirmed that the school?s management had apologised to the lady student Ms. Wireko-Brobbey and her mother for the embarrassment they suffered and wants to believe that the apology was taken in good faith.

Meanwhile the Governing Board chaired Mrs. Frances Ademola has setup a three member committee headed by Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh to investigate concerns raised by the lecturers during their recent strike action.

The sub-committee which has the President of the Ghana Journalists Association Ms. Ajoa Yeboah-Afari and Mr. Divine Kwapong as members will hold a meeting with individual members of the lecturing body today to hear their grievances as well as consider inputs towards bringing GIJ back to its past glory.

Insiders told the paper that when the Board met with management and the lecturers a fortnight ago, the lecturers could not determine exactly what their grievances were in relation to the issues raised in their petition prior to the strike action.