Education Committee Vice Chairperson appeals to GAUA, TUSAAG to call off strike

The Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Education Select Committee and Member of Parliament for Kintampo North, Hon. Joseph Kwame Kumah, has appealed to the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) and the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) to call off their two-month strike.

He pleaded with them to return to work while negotiations with government continue.

Hon. Kumah said government is working seriously across all sectors, noting that demands from various sectors are many. He expressed confidence that the President and the Minister for Education will listen to their concerns.

GAUA and TUSAAG are on an indefinite nationwide strike over pay and market premium disparities between non-teaching and teaching senior members.

Hon. Kumah said he supports the administrators and believes they deserve everything due them, especially their demands. However, he said their continued stay at home is affecting university education.

He assured them that government will pay them, adding that he is concerned about education and their welfare.

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has also called on GAUA and TUSAAG to call off the strike to allow normal academic work to resume at all public universities across the country, but the administrators are yet to return to office.

Hon. Kumah said COVID-19 had a bad effect on Ghana’s educational system because students did not go to school and a lot of teaching hours were lost. He warned that if teachers and administrators embark on strike, it will have a very bad effect on the nation’s education system.

He therefore urged the administrators to return to work since the teacher unions have called off theirs.

He also called on labour unions and other organisations not to use strike action to punish government, but to give government breathing space so they do not hold it hostage.