The University Teacher’s Association of Ghana, UTAG, has said its indefinite strike continues unabated.
In a meeting held by the UCC Chapter of the Association, it was revealed that the strike will continue to hold till demands of the Association are met.
According to the Vice President of UTAG-UCC, Prof Kwame Osei Kwarteng, the meeting was called to inform members of the Association of issues as they stand between government and UTAG.
Prof. Kwarteng speaking to Akosua Akyeabea Sackey in an exclusive interaction said the strike still holds. “UTAG is still on strike. We called the meeting to inform our members about what has happened so far. It was basically a progress report we gave them”. On whether the strike will be called off any time soon with government possibly giving in to UTAG’s demand, Prof. Kwarteng said that was difficult to conclude.
“I cannot tell if government will give in but on the 20th of August, we are going to meet the chairman of Vice Chancellors, Ghana. For now we do not know what the chairman will tell us but we are going to keep our fingers crossed until we get there. It is only when we have met him that we will know what our next move will be”.
Prof. Kwarteng continued, “Government wants to pay the Book and Research allowance for just this year and then next year, they will not pay. Government wants to begin discussions on the operationalization of the National Research Fund and when they begin, it will mean the book and research allowance will not be paid again.
There is no way we will agree to the abrogation of the Book and Research Allowance because it is for instructional purposes and our career development whilst the National Research Fund is for national development. It is also a part of our conditions of service and government cannot change our conditions of service without first entering into negotiations with us”.
Prof. Kwarteng speaking on the effect the strike is having on students said, “we are all concerned students are not in school because of the strike but there is a Ghanaian proverb which says, if nothing is destroyed nothing good is gained”.
“Members of UTAG also have children in affected tertiary institutions but we have to fight for this just course”, he added.
Tertiary education of the nation has been plunged into series of strikes with POTAG and UTAG declaring indefinite strikes because of government’s failure to settle their Book and Research Allowances.
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