The Member of Parliament for Akatsi North Constituency in the Volta Region, Peter Kwasi Nortsu-Kotoe has called on the Nana Akufo Addo led government to stop dragging its feet and attend to the demands of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to avert a possible shut down of universities across the country.
UTAG resume its strike on January 10, 2022 to demand better Condition of Service (CoS) for its members and has since resolved not to return to the lecture halls until their demands are met.
The strike has entered its third week. This is likely to see a nationwide closure of public universities if the government does not take measures to meet the demands of the Association.
Commenting on the issue on A1 Radio’s Daybreak Upper East Show, the Akatsi North Legislator who doubles as the Ranking Member on Education Committee in Parliament explained the feet-dragging attitude of the government in handling concerns of UTAG is the reason things are the way they are now.
He said ” this is what I called feet dragging. You know you have a commitment to make sure that they received whatever they need to work with. What has prevented the government from providing those things for a very long time now? So they [lecturers] left the lecture halls and they are now on strike, very soon the universities will be closed down. So I will rather urge the government to make sure that they[government] expedite action on the demands of the lectures. If they can not meet all their demands at the same time, met them halfway for them to go back and you work on the remaining conditions that you needed to improve upon for them”.
Meanwhile, the C.K Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) branch president of UTAG, Dr. Jonas Bugase said the government’s efforts so far do not in any way, address the concerns as tabled by UTAG
UTAG’s position remains that while the government has failed to state the guidelines regarding an improved market premium, the previous premiums should be restored, in the interim, while the government takes steps to implement a new one. Subsequently, the differences between the interim and the agreed-upon premiums would then be calculated and paid.
“How can a university lecturer who has studied BSc, or whatever, to Masters and then Ph.D level, earn less than ghc5,000. But check other sectors, where they do not even require an M.Phil or an MA to become Heads of Departments, they earn more than ghc8,000 or ghc10,000. What are we doing to the elite community of this country?”
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Samuel Kantomse Adagom|Ghana
