Ghanaians should be sick and tired of the government’s inertia towards addressing strike action by CETAG – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has slammed the government’s poor handling of the strike action by the members of the Colleges of Education Teachers’ Association of Ghana (CETAG).

The members of CETAG have been on strike for over 60 days.

They have accused the government of failing to address concerns related to their conditions of service.

The Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament and MP for Builsa South, Clement Apaak, reacting to the issue said Ghanaians should be sick and tired of the government’s inertia towards addressing the matter.

He indicated the Minister of Education and the entire government machinery must be blamed squarely for what is going on.

He noted that this issue is a straight-forward matter and ought to have been addressed by the government, which was indeed serious about it.

Dr. Apaak disclosed that this strike action started in 2023, and it took an intervention from parliament and other well-meaning Ghanaians for CETAG to call it’s strike, but the government failed to address the concerns raised by CETAG in lieu of the arbitration award that was granted to CETAG.

He stated that parliament once again, through the Education Committee, took action in resolving the matter, but the Education Ministry went behind the Committee and met CETAG, promising them to resolve the matter.

The former lecturer at the University of Ghana said this issue has prolonged as a result of the lack of trust, and CETAG has come to the conclusion that the government is not being truthful and forthright.

He suggested that rather than trying to persuade CETAG and address the issues, the government is rather threatening CETAG, and students in the various colleges are the ones suffering.

Dr. Clement Apaak, speaking in a media interview, also asserted that the decision by the government to employ new teachers is a bad move and ought to be withdrawn immediately.

He advised the government to marshal the needed resources to meet its obligations to the teachers so they would go back and teach.

He maintained the decision by the government to recruit 2,500 new teachers is misplaced priority adding that, as MP he can confidently state that there is no approved budget for this recruitment.

He stated that the approved 2024 budget and the mid-year budget review do not include estimates for this recruitment exercise, which cannot take place over the next two to three months.

He stated that recruiting lecturers is not a task that can be completed in a month and emphasised the need of the government doing what the law requires in order for CETAG members to return to the classroom.