The Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG) says it will not call off its ongoing strike based on verbal assurances from government, insisting on a comprehensive, written, and signed roadmap to address its concerns.
National President of TUTAG, Professor Deodat E. Adenutsi, said members had lost confidence in verbal commitments after previous assurances failed to translate into concrete action.
Speaking on, Professor Adenutsi said the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu met the association a day after the strike was declared and appealed to members to return to work.
However, he said, the proposal was rejected by Congress, which wants government’s commitments documented with clear timelines before considering a return to the classroom.
“They asked us to call it off, but when I informed Congress yesterday, they said they wouldn’t accept verbal assurances. They want a comprehensive written and signed roadmap,” he said.
Professor Adenutsi said TUTAG was demanding urgent action because similar verbal assurances had been made in the past without the promised commitments being fulfilled.
“We want urgent steps because they always give verbal assurances they don’t fulfil,” he said.
He stressed that the strike was not a decision taken hastily, particularly because the association was aware of the disruption it could cause to academic work.
“This was not an overnight decision. It has taken a lot for us to embark on this strike because we know the impact on education,” he said.
According to him, the disruption is already being felt on campuses, with most technical universities having reopened while newly admitted students reported without meeting lecturers.
“As of now, most of the schools have reopened, and first-years didn’t meet anyone when they reported,” he said.
He said TUTAG remained hopeful that government would address its concerns quickly to enable lecturers to return to teaching and allow academic activities to proceed smoothly.
The association has previously cited outstanding payments to lecturers on post-retirement contracts, unilateral variations of agreed schemes of service and concerns over a Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) directive requiring Assistant Lecturers and Assistant Research Fellows to obtain PhDs before re-designation as among the issues behind the industrial action.
Professor Adenutsi, however, said the non-payment of the Book and Research Allowance was no longer a substantive basis for the strike because government had demonstrated progress by initiating the payment process.
TUTAG had said it exhausted several channels of engagement over unpaid post-retirement contracts, including meetings and correspondence with the Ministries of Education and Finance, GTEC, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the National Labour Commission.
Some affected staff, the association said, had remained unpaid for as long as 27 months despite continuing to perform their contractual duties.
On the way forward, Professor Adenutsi said TUTAG would take any written proposal from government to Congress for consideration.
“When they bring the scheme of conditions, we will take the letter to Congress for consideration,” he said.
He added that the association would hold government accountable to any commitments made by demanding specific timelines for implementation.
“When they give us specific timelines, we will tick what they will do,” he said.
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