TTAG to hold a press conference on prolonged CETAG strike action

The leadership of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) following the ongoing strike action by teachers across the 46 public Colleges of Education has announced to hold a press conference to register their displeasure.

Scheduled for Monday, July 29, 2024, the Teacher Trainees Association in a social media post sighted by Thisterm.com said the press briefing will take place at the Accra College of Education at 2:00 PM.

“Coming Monday, 29th July 2024, we will hold a Press Conference to express our displeasure on the CETAG’s Destiny strike and other happenings in the Colleges of Education that are uncalled for,” TTAG announced on Facebook.

Relatedly, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) following the six-week unresolved industrial action by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has called for an adjustment to the 2023/24 academic calendar in the Colleges of Education.

In an interview with Starr News, the President of NUGS, Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh, citing the best interest of teacher trainees appealed to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to adjust the College academic calendar.

“We are proposing an adjustment of the calendar, not a complete reset. We have already started the academic calendar and reached a point where some students are preparing for examinations

At this moment, it would be very difficult to start exams immediately upon returning to school. There should be an opportunity to accommodate the material lost over these three to four weeks. We are asking for an adjustment to the academic calendar. Resetting everything would disrupt the entire calendar.”

He added “We need to make adjustments to accommodate the issues that have arisen. For instance, our Level 400 or 300 students on their out-programme who rented apartments for their placements have wasted their rent

They are now wondering what to do next. If we don’t review the academic calendar, it will affect these students who fund their rented places out of their own pockets. Without an adjustment, the itinerary of these students will be severely impacted.”

Meanwhile, the leadership of the College of Education Teachers Association says the ongoing strike aims to put pressure on the central government to improve their working conditions and settle their remuneration packages.

A member of the CETAG speaking to journalists said no member of the striking Association will return to the classroom to teach until the central government has met their demands including payment of remuneration packages.

CETAG’s demands also include the payment of one month’s salary to each member for additional duties performed in 2022, and the application of agreed rates of allowances payable to public universities to deserving CETAG members.