The Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Education Select Committee and Member of Parliament for Kintampo North, Hon. Joseph Kwame Kumah, has made a passionate appeal to the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) and the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) to call off their two-month strike.
He pleaded with the striking unions to return to work while negotiations with the government continue.
Hon. Kumah noted that the government is working seriously across all sectors, acknowledging that demands from various public sectors are vast. He expressed confidence that the President and the Minister for Education will listen to their concerns.
GAUA and TUSAAG are currently on an indefinite nationwide strike over pay and market premium disparities between non-teaching and teaching senior members.
Hon. Kumah stated that he supports the administrators and believes they deserve everything due them, especially their demands. However, he warned that their continued stay at home is adversely affecting university education across the country.
He assured the administrators that government will pay them, emphasizing that he remains deeply concerned about education and their welfare.
The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has also called on GAUA and TUSAAG to call off the strike to allow normal academic work to resume at all public universities across the country, but the administrators are yet to return to office.
Reflecting on recent disruptions, Hon. Kumah said COVID-19 had a bad effect on Ghana’s educational system because students did not go to school and a lot of teaching hours were lost. He warned that if teachers and administrators embark on strike, it will have a very bad effect on the nation’s education system.
He therefore urged the administrators to follow the example of teacher unions and return to work since the teacher unions have called off theirs.
He further called on labour unions and other organisations not to use strike action to punish government, but to give government breathing space so they do not hold it hostage.
GAUA Rejects GTEC Directive
Meanwhile, the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has firmly rejected a directive from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), asserting that it is an independent union and does not take instructions from GTEC regarding its operations.
The stance follows an order issued by GTEC directing public universities to reopen by Friday and resume academic work by Monday at the latest.
Speaking on Rainbow Radio’s Nyankonton Mu Nsem, the General Secretary of GAUA at the University of Ghana, Mr Charles Kojo Aidoo, said the association expects every institution to fulfil its obligations under the agreement reached with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Minister for Education, and other stakeholders.
According to him, GAUA cannot be expected to carry out its part of the agreement while other parties fail to honour theirs or threaten the association.
He stressed that every stakeholder has a role to play in resolving the matter, and urged them to do the needful.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
