The Ministry of Education has said the strike by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) is needless.

CETAG began a nationwide strike in all 38 Colleges of Education on Monday September 12 over what they say is the lack of commitment from government in addressing their grievances.

The Association is unhappy about the undue delay in the migration of tutors to their requisite placement according to the dictates of Act 847.

However, speaking to Class News, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Francis Gbadago, said the Ministry was surprised with CETAG’s decision to strike especially as negotiations have been concluded, with the Ministry of Finance yet to give the green light for the salary increment that will accompany the migration.

“The Ministry holds the view that at this particular point in time there is no need for a strike action by the leadership of CETAG. We have gone quite far with this particular process, negotiations have been concluded, we have finished everything; it’s just about communication to the Finance Ministry because what it means is that the upgrade we are referring to has to come with additional funding in the sense that it will culminate in an increase in salaries for these teachers and so the Ministry of Finance has to be notified, they have to take into account all these things before it finally reflects, and, so, that is the state where we are at the moment, and I think that where we have gotten to, we’ve gone quite far and there is no need for a strike action at this particular point in time,” he stated.

Mr Gbadago, therefore, appealed to the association to call off the strike. He said: “We are appealing to the leadership of CETAG to call off the strike and then go back to the classroom and teach our students. Of course the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has written to the Ministry of Finance and we believe strongly that by the close of this week, we would receive an official communication from the Ministry of Finance to that effect and that will mean that we are getting close to the end of the whole exercise and so we are once again appealing to the leadership of CETAG to reconsider their decision”.