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CETAG to end strike as major issues resolved – Employment minister confirms

Source The Ghana Report

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has announced that all issues between the Ministry and the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) have been resolved.

Weeks ago, CETAG went on strike, calling for better working conditions and the implementation of a National Labour Commission (NLC) ruling.

After over a month of staying away from work, CETAG members had their July salaries frozen by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

Speaking to the media following his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee on Friday, August 2, the minister confirmed that all outstanding issues have been fully resolved.

“I have engaged and have concluded. We have even signed a Memorandum of Understanding indicating what government commitment is going forward. The request also for them to go back to class, we have signed onto that. They have equally signed. But you know, those who came to represent the teachers were just the leaders. They requested that they needed to have a consultation with their members to officially call off the strike. So that’s why we are waiting.”

“In their case, their leadership have also signed so what is needed is for them to have their national council meeting and also take a decision, but I must admit that we still have work in progress. The most important issue even though there were quite several issues was the issue of migration. You know, they had been upgraded from teacher training institutions to colleges of education which meant their status has changed.”

“But fortunately for us, an assessment has been done, and the assessment indicates that about 98% of them do qualify so all 98% of persons who qualify, are now going to be migrated onto university status. We are using the University of Cape Coast as the yardstick for migration.”

Mr. Baffour Awuah assured that the ministry had implemented measures to prevent any further industrial action before the end of the year.

He acknowledged that while financial considerations are a factor, delays were due to necessary audits and verification processes.

“We ought to audit to make sure that yes, if you said you have say a master’s, it should be confirmed. Those processes sometimes have to travel between GTEC the principals of those colleges and the teachers themselves. This back and forth, sometimes raising queries and waiting for answers causes delays.”

“I don’t think that was a deliberate action on the part of the government to delay, but let me also say that sometimes when institutions act, and perhaps they delay, the effect is that people think it is the central government that is not taking a particular action,” he said.

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