Teachers to strike May 31

Teachers in the Colleges of Education in Ghana could be laying down their tools by May 31, 2016 if government does not migrate them to the appropriate salary structure.

The teachers explain that the Fair Wages and Salary Commission has dragged its feet in migrating them unto the Single Spine Salary Structure denying them what their colleagues at other tertiary institutions are enjoying.

The spokesperson of the aggrieved teachers under the umbrella of Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), Charles Amoah Agyei, stated that the group will stop all teaching activities if they do not get paid by the end of this month.

“We wish to state clearly that any further delay or refusal of government to migrate and pay appropriate salaries to CETAG members by the end of May 2016 would lead to indefinite suspension of the following duties until all issues regarding migration and other related matters are completely resolved,” he stated.

They said the strike will also include suspension of other related duties such as supervision and marking of internal examination quizzes and assessments, suspension of weekly T-TEL workshop programme for tutors of colleges of education in Ghana and withdrawal from all co-curricular activities.

Below is the full statement of the aggrieved teachers:

PRESS CONFERENCE ON MIGRATION OF SALARIES OF TUTORS OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION - BY AGGRIEVED MEMBERS OF CETAG

We, the aggrieved members of Colleges of Education Teachers' Association of Ghana (CETAG), wish to express our frustration and displeasure for the unfair delay by the Fair Wages and Salaries' Commission and the Government of Ghana to migrate and pay us appropriate salaries as teachers in other tertiary institution.

We wish to draw the attention of the nation to the fact that the problem of migration and non-payment of appropriate salaries to CETAG members has existed for the past 12 years (2004-2016), for which we partly blame the National Labour Commission (NLC) for their consistent refusal to give attention to our 12-year old plight of performing duties without commensurate payment of salaries and allowances as pertain to teachers in other tertiary institutions in Ghana.

It would be recalled that in the year 2004, Colleges of Education became diploma awarding institutions just like Polytechnics that were until recently diploma awarding institutions in Ghana.

The first batch of students successfully completed their diploma programmes in 2007. At the beginning of the diploma programme in 2004, Colleges of Education were made to understand that some structures had to be put in place for a full take off of Colleges of Education as tertiary institutions.

It took governments of Ghana eight (8) long years (2004-2012) to put the necessary structures in place before the passage of Colleges of Education Act (Act 847) in 2012. It is to be noted that Colleges of Education Act 847 was given a presidential assent by the late President John Evans Attah-Mills in the same year (i.e. 2012).

We the tutors of Colleges of Education in Ghana thought that the 8-year period (2004-2012) that the past governments of Ghana used to put relevant structures in place before passing the Colleges of Education Act in 2012 was enough for immediate migration of tutors onto tertiary payroll and appropriate salaries paid.

But to our utmost surprise, in 2012, when the Colleges of Education Act was passed, the Government of Ghana claimed that it was putting additional structures in place for tutors of Colleges of Education to be migrated onto the appropriate payroll as a way of legally recognising the Colleges as tertiary institutions.

It is regrettable, sad and disappointing to note that since the passage of the CoE Act, college infrastructure has received the 'touch' of tertiarization; the teacher- trainee has received the 'baptism' of tertiarization, while the human resource maning both the said infrastructure and the trainee have been denied their rightful remuneration.

This revelation sounds paradoxical and shocking to fair-minded and humane- hearted listeners of our lamentations. But dear audience, the demoralizing working condition in the CoE is a stubborn reality,Even up till now (2016), the government has not been able to put necessary measures in place to migrate tutors of Colleges of Education onto the appropriate payroll.

AS A RESULT OF THESE FRUSTRATIONS AND UNFAIR TREATMENTS, WE THE AGGRIEVED MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION OF GHANA (CETAG), AFTER 12 YEARS OF PERFORMING TERTIARY DUTIES WITHOUT MIGRATION AND PAYMENT OF APPROPRIATE SALARIES, WISH TO ISSUE THIS ULTIMATUM TO THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA TO RESOLVE ALL MIGRATION ISSUES AND PAY APPROPRIATE AND DESERVING SALARIES TO MEMBERS OF CETAG BY THE END OF MAY, 2016. WE WISH TO STATE CLEARLY THAT ANY FURTHER DELAY OR REFUSAL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA TO MIGRATE AND PAY APPROPRIATE SALARIES TO CETAG MEMBERS BY THE END OF MAY 2016 WOULD LEAD TO INDEFINITE SUSPENSION OF THE FOLLOWING DUTIES UNTIL ALL ISSUES REGARDING MIGRATION AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS ARE COMPLETELY RESOLVED.

1. Suspension of teaching and other related duties such as supervision and marking of internal examination, quizzes and assessments

2. Suspension of action research supervision of student teachers and withholding of action research results of these student teachers.

3. Suspension of weekly T-TEL workshop programme for Tutors of Colleges of Education in Ghana.

4. Withdrawal from all co-curricula activities.

We urge the National Labour Commission, the Ministry of Education, the National Council for Tertiary Education and the Fair Wages and Salaries' Commission to sit up and do what is right to end this 12-year old maltreatment of tutors of Colleges of Education in Ghana. WE WISH TO INDICATE STRONGLY THAT CETAG MEMBERS CANNOT CONTINUE PERFORMING LABORIOUS TERTIARY DUTIES IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS TO GET DIPLOMA CERTIFICATES WHILE TEACHERS WHO CONTINUE TO SPEND HUGE SUMS OF MONEY ON PERSONAL ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ALSO TEACHING TERTIARY COURSES DO NOT ENJOY APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE MEANT FOR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS LIKE OURS. Thank you!

Issued By: Aggrieved members of CETAG from the 5 zones of Ghana