Builsa South Member of Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak has called on the government to meet its obligations to the lecturers so that they can return to the classroom following the strike by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG).
Dr Apaak says if this impasse is not resolved sooner, it will disrupt the progress of the students and dislodge the academic calendar.
The leadership of CETAG announced an indefinite strike that started Friday, June 14, 2024.
CETAG urged all members to withdraw teaching and related services indefinitely until their grievances were resolved.
The strike was to register their grievance over the government’s delay in implementing the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Arbitral Award Orders and negotiated service conditions.
“CETAG wishes to call on every member to immediately comply with this declaration by withdrawing teaching and related services indefinitely across all 46 Public colleges of education until all the orders arising from the Compulsory Arbitration Awards and related concerns are fully implemented by way of payments to our members and implementations thereof. Thank you.”
In a statement reacting to this, Dr Apaak who s also Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament said “Our colleges of Education Lecturers [CETAG] have been on strike since the 14th of June 2024, and there seems to be no end in sight.
“According to CETAG, the strike has been occasioned by a number of factors. However, the bone of contention is the refusal of the employer [government] to implement an arbitration award granted to CETAG by the NLC in relation to the transition from diploma awarding teacher training colleges, five year ago, to degree awarding colleges of education.
“We again call on the government to meet its obligations to the lecturers so that they can return to the classroom. If this impass is not resolved sooner, it will disrupt the progress of the students and dislodge the academic calendar.”
