“This government simply does not care about anything. If they did, teacher trainees wouldn’t be crying over the disruption of their academic calendar. The demands of Colleges of Education teachers would have been promptly addressed,” said the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, summarizing the prolonged strike by CETAG.

Addressing a mini rally at Peki Blengo in the Volta Region as part of his campaign tour, Mr. Mahama described the government's lackadaisical approach to addressing the issue as unacceptable.

“If it was a government that cared, they would have sat down with the aggrieved teachers and resolved their issues,” he explained.

You will recall that CETAG began its strike on Friday, June 14, 2024, protesting the government’s delay in implementing an arbitral award and negotiated service conditions.

Despite an NLC directive on June 20 to end the strike, CETAG continued, leading to a hearing where the Commission announced plans to sue the government to enforce the arbitral award in CETAG’s favor.

Already, the Teacher Trainees’ Association of Ghana (TTAG), in a statement to the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education-Ghana on August 9, 2024, demanded the closure of all 46 public Colleges of Education across the country by Monday, August 12.