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| Accra College of Education |
Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), has supported the decision not to pay the July salary of striking members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG). In an interview with TV3, Professor Jinapor stated that CETAG has been adamant about contacting the government to address their issues. On June 14, teachers from various colleges of education went on strike across the country to demand that the government execute the arbitral ruling and negotiated service conditions.
GTEC issued a letter on Monday asking the Controller and Accountant-General's Department not to pay the striking teachers, who had been absent from the classrooms for more than a month. Professor Jinapor justified the choice. "Logically, if you do not show up for work, you will not be paid. Will it be fair if these issues are resolved but they continue to get their salaries while the students are shortchanged? He enquired. The GTEC Director-General promised that the schools would not be closed. "I can tell you on authority that the schools will not be shut down," he said.
According to Professor Jinapor, members of CETAG have repeatedly refused to meet with the administration in order to reach an amicable solution. "CETAG members have been called time and time again and they have refused to engage," he told me. Professor Jinapor stated that a lot has been done to resolve the teachers' concerns and encouraged them to return to work.
Migration continues uninterrupted, there is budgetary provision, and a committee has been formed, with meetings scheduled to begin on Monday. Their year-round allowance, which is intended to be paid, has been processed through GIFMIS. They can check with their individual principals, heads of institutions, and finance directors to see where they stand in terms of sourcing those funds. In terms of their book and study supplement, we have received data and are processing it," he stated. The Director-General of GTEC informed the teachers that all staff and faculty would be migrated under the program of their member institutions.
We will not employ multiple types of service systems. That entails a standardised scheme of service for colleges and their affiliate universities, but with the caveat that to whom much is given, much is demanded. Appointments, promotions, office holding, and tenure track will be influenced by the condition and scheme of service of their affiliated universities, he explained. Meanwhile, at the Accra College of Education, the majority of students have departed, and those who remain say life is intolerable.