CETAG Strike: About 80% of students at SDA College of Education leave campus

About 80% of students at the SDA College of Education in Koforidua Asokore have left campus due to the protracted strike by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG).

The industrial action, which began on June 14, is in response to the government’s refusal to implement CETAG’s arbitral award and conditions of service.

The situation deteriorated further when the government decided to freeze the July salaries of CETAG members, prompting a complete withdrawal of their services.

As a result, SDA College of Education has seen a mass exodus of students.

A visit to the campus revealed that only a few students, mostly first-year students, remain.

Lecture halls were deserted, with some being utilized by Senior High School students for their studies.

Male students were seen playing volleyball, expressing their indifference to the lecturers’ absence.

Sakyi Sampson Junior, the SRC President of SDA College of Education, stated that 80% of the students have left, while others are stranded on campus.

“This strike has been ongoing for over a month. We were not expecting this when it first started; we thought it would last one week, but unfortunately, it has extended to about a month and two weeks.”

He added, “Even today, as we are having a council meeting by CETAG, we don’t know what the outcome will be. My students are stranded. I can say that about 80% of students are home now, which is a problem for us.

All activities have ceased—SRC, college activities, and many other things are not going on. So, I would say that the government should come to the negotiation table with CETAG and sort everything out for us to return to campus again,” the SRC President stated.

Kyere Phinihas, former SRC Organizing Secretary, noted that many fourth-year students have been unable to complete their dissertations due to the lack of supervision from striking lecturers.

“We haven’t had any encounters with our lecturers, and we don’t have any course outlines or manuals to at least depend on and learn from. We can’t say teachers are on strike and, for that matter, these are the course manuals or outlines to depend on and research from, so we don’t have anything to use for learning.”

He added, “Aside from that, the level 400 students are embarking on project work, and these lecturers are supposed to engage us so that we know what to do about the project work. But they are on strike, so our project work has been halted. Some students are even still in chapter one. Some are yet to even discuss this project work with their supervisors, so I think it is really causing a lot of problems for students, especially those of us in level 400 who are off-campus.”

Meanwhile, female students have lamented the negative impact of the strike and are calling on the government to resolve the impasse swiftly.

Despite the ongoing strike and students’ inability to complete their project work, the college has set August 1, 2024, for its congregation ceremony, with Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia slated to be the Guest of Honor.