On the 7th of October 2019, a press statement was issued by the National President of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG), Dr. Solomon .A Keelson, declaring an indefinite strike by the association. Among some of the pressing issues which have necessitated this action are that:
1. TUTAG has, since the conversion of eight (8) polytechnics into Technical Universities, fulfilled all conditions precedent for the implementation of the conditions of service for public universities.
2. The Akuffo Addo led government has failed to fully migrate ‘qualified’ staff to the public universities salary structure despite the many assurance since December 2018.
3. Government through the NCTE has strangely downgraded the ranks of some staff after an audit was carried out by the NCTE.
Ordinarily, one would have thought that a government that promised to fight for the common interest of teachers will not mete out this level of injustice and rough dealings to the very key stakeholders in academia who by their relentless sacrifices help train the finest brains that mother Ghana needs to drive home the development agenda of all facets of her national life.
I commend our lecturers for taking such a bold step in demanding for what is rightly due them, but it is also instructive to say that we the [innocent] students of the various technical universities are badly affected by this action; especially the many of us in final year preparing for our long essays.
We can only thank President Akuffo Addo’s government for succeeding in distorting our academic calendar. As vulnerable and helpless as we are in the ensuing circumstances, we cannot but call on government, if only they will listen, to with immediate effect address the concerns of our lecturers. We want to return to the lecture halls.
*Ebenezer Assan*
*Concerned Technical University Student*
*Cape Coast Technical University*
*0270732520*