Address the concerns of CETAG immediately – Nana Yaa Jantuah tells govt

Former General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah has told the government to address the concerns of Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) immediately to allow the students to be taught.

She states that the prolonged strike is hurting the students of the colleges of education hence the need for the government to act swiftly.

“The government must be “serious with teachers,” they have to find the money to pay them because it is an agreement,” Nana Yaa Januah said on the Big Issue on TV3 on Thursday, July 25.

She stressed, “What is due these teachers should be given to them, it is not good for any government to act after the strike.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said that the government has made strides in addressing the issues of CETAG which resulted in their strike.

The Minister told journalists in Accra on Wednesday, July 24 after an engagement with stakeholders that “we have made great progress, we have made giant strides.”

CETAG withdrew all services following the decision by the government to withhold their July salary.

CETAG explained that the decision is in response to the Minister of Education’s directive to Principals and the Controller and Accountant General not to validate the July 2024 salaries of teaching staff of the 46 public colleges of education due to their ongoing strike.

“Leadership has referred the illegal directive to freeze our July salaries to our lawyers to take the necessary action on it immediately,” the statement dated July 23 added.

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) had directed the Controller and Accountants General to freeze the July salary of members of CETAG. This was after the government described the strike by CETAG as illegal.

A letter written to the CAGD by the Director General of GTEC Prof Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai said “At the instance of the Minister of Education on the non-adherence of CETAG members to call off an illegal strike from June 2024, you are by this letter requested to stop the salaries of all teaching staff of the Colleges of Education (CETAG) except for the College Principals for July 2024.

“By this letter, College Principals are not to validate the July 2024 salaries of all teaching staff.”

The leadership of CETAG first 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.”