Teachers Abandon Classrooms Over Delay In Single Spine Migration

Teachers in all thirty eight (38) Public Colleges of Education yesterday embarked on indefinite strike effective over what they described as “unduly delayed migration” to be able to draw salaries as tutors from other tertiary institution.

The National Executives Committee of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana took the decision after a meeting resolved to implement the strike following what they further described as unfruitful meetings and deliberations with government.

The Ministries of Finance and Employment and Labour Relations and the National Labour Commission have all been blamed for “showing lack of commitment to migrate the tutors to our requisite placement in our tertiary dispensation according to the dictates of ACT 847”.

Speaking in an interview on various media platforms over the weekend, the National Secretary of the association Prince Obeng Heman said “from 2012 up till now all the engagements that we’ve had have ended in a deadlock.

So we think that they have not shown any strong commitment of doing it that.

“We should be on new ranks now that should commensurate the new job that we are doing. All the meetings we’ve had not even one minister has been there. If even you say the substantive minister is busy, he has two deputies… Not even one of them has shown the commitment to be there.”

The strike would affect teaching in all the institutions across the country.

Mr. Heman further indicated that “we take this as a strike of our lives, a strike of destiny and we are prepared to stretch up to the limit until we are migrated. When we see the payment reflect in our bank accounts, that is when we would reconsider our decision.”

However, he admitted that the strike would affect teaching in the institutions across the country.

Meanwhile the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has also given government one week to pay the thesis and bursary grants due its members.

GRASAG President, Rashid Kwesi Etuaful in a statement issued to the media. noted that the non-release of the grant defeats the purpose for which it was instituted.

He said the association would be compelled to picket at the Flagstaff House on September 21, in protest if the cheques are not released to the Scholarship Secretariat by September 16, 2016.

Mr. Kwesi Etuaful in the statement said t that “it is inconceivable that government will drag its feet in paying paltry sum of GH¢450.00 to post-graduate students in fields such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and the Master of Arts (MA”).

He cited the delays in the release of grants in the 2012/13 and 2014/15 academic years as testaments of government’s maltreatment of GRASAG members over the years.

The grant is aimed at subsidising academic expenses.

It is also a demonstration of how government values post-graduate education.