Member of Parliament for Builsa South and a Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak, has urged the government to meet its obligations to the aggrieved lecturers of the colleges so that they can call off the strike and go back to the classroom immediately.

According to Dr. Apaak, the earlier the government finds a solution to the grievances of the staff of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), the better it will be for the education sector.

His comments come on the heels of the strike action embarked on by CETAG over what they describe as the government’s delay in implementing the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Arbitral Award Orders and negotiated service conditions.

Dr. Apaak stated that if the impasse is not resolved sooner, it will disrupt the progress of the students and dislodge the academic calendar.

On Friday, June 14, 2024, the leadership of CETAG announced an indefinite nationwide strike to draw the government’s attention to their pressing needs.

CETAG urged all members to withdraw teaching and related services indefinitely until their grievances were resolved.

The leadership of CETAG, in a statement, said, “CETAG wishes to call on every member to immediately comply with this declaration by withdrawing teaching and related services indefinitely across all 46 public colleges of education until all the orders arising from the Compulsory Arbitration Awards and related concerns are fully implemented by way of payments to our members and implementations thereof. Thank you.”

However, the Builsa South lawmaker said, “Our colleges of education lecturers [CETAG] have been on strike since the 14th of June 2024, and there seems to be no end in sight.

According to CETAG, the strike has been occasioned by a number of factors. However, the bone of contention is the refusal of the employer [government] to implement an arbitration award granted to CETAG by the NLC in relation to the transition from diploma-awarding teacher training colleges, five years ago, to degree-awarding colleges of education.

We again call on the government to meet its obligations to the lecturers so that they can return to the classroom. If this impasse is not resolved sooner, it will disrupt the progress of the students and dislodge the academic calendar.”