The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has declared that its ongoing strike will continue until a resolution is reached, despite calls from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to suspend the action for further dialogue.
GTEC had earlier directed CETAG to suspend the strike to allow for continued discussions.
This followed a closed-door meeting between GTEC and CETAG after the association declared a strike on Thursday, January 2, 2025, over unresolved issues.
In a press statement, GTEC’s Director-General, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, criticized the timing of the strike, describing it as counterproductive.
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He appealed to CETAG to call off the action and engage in continued discussions, emphasizing GTEC’s commitment to resolving their concerns.
However, speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Maxwell Bunu, President of CETAG, maintained that the strike could only be moderated, not completely called off.
He argued that the government’s financial commitments to date have been inadequate to address their grievances fully.
“What we saw today, probably if they were to show those documents to us, the commitments they had made earlier, we wouldn’t have been where we are. It has always been documentation and promises, we have not seen any full action” Bunu stated.
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“All the documents they have shown to us, we need to brief the council, about what transpired today, [Friday] and the council will take a decision from there. Based on what I have seen today, I made it known to Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai that it’s not sufficient to enable us to call off or suspend the strike”, he added.
“We’re not calling off this strike, the best we can do is to moderate the elements of the strike. For us to just call it off I don’t think that is feasible” Bunu continued.
He accused the government of being insensitive to their concerns.
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The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana on January 2, announced its decision to embark on an indefinite strike effective Thursday, January 2, 2025.
The declaration follows an Emergency National Council meeting of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association held on Monday, December 30, 2024.
In a statement issued on December 31, CETAG explained that this decision follows earlier notices of strike served on September 26, 2024, and December 23, 2024, of which the National Labour Commission (NLC) failed to address the concerns raised.
Would you like to know more about the ongoing negotiations or the specific demands of CETAG? Read Here: CETAG Declares Indefinite Strike Over Unresolved Labour Issues