Cape Coast (C/R), June 25, – About 30 students of the Cape Coast Polytechnic late yesterday afternoon, registered their disapproval of the Ministry of Education’s statement that polytechnics could not offer programmes leading to the award of degrees. The students, who wore red head-bands, chanted slogans and sang in favour of the HND. They carried placards some of which read “HND is equivalent to first degree”, “HND is the same as a first degree” and “We want equal rights”. They later drove to the offices of the Central Regional Co-ordinating Council to present a petition to President Rawlings through the Central Regional Minister, Mr Kojo Yankah. The petition, which was also copied to the Principal of the Cape Cost Polytechnic and signed by Mr Samuel Nyarko, the local NUGS president, said “we would like to express our dissatisfaction on the issue of an HND holder being next to a first degree holder”. It noted that there must be a better explanation to the phrase “next to”, if ‘A’-level, SSS, DBS and ordinary diplomas are also next to first degree”.
