It also wants the government to conclude its negotiations with them and implement their agreed market premiums by the end of April 2018 as promised.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aUFZ32jpTtEoIB0q8qEdE3CugIuRiRqg”]The Association said it is unhappy with government’s slow response to their requests despite several promptings.

The teachers in November 2017, called off a three-week-old strike they declared over the failure of government to pay salary arrears owed them since October 2016. They however called it off after an assurance by the government to pay the monies in April 2018.

In a Citi News interview, the National Secretary of CETAG, Prince Obeng-Himah, said the last governing councils seized to function when the Mahama administration handed over power to the Akufo-Addo government.

“[It’s been almost a year without governing councils, and this is having adverse effects on the running of the colleges,” he said. 

“Administratively, principals are handicapped because per the Act, they are restricted as to the extent to which they can go. And the staff is also taking undue advantage [of the situation], to take ad-hoc and arbitrary and discretionary decisions that are not in the interest of the colleges,” he said. 

He further added that, the situation is “affecting the progress of the teachers… We gain promotion by publishing. At our level, it is publish or perish.”

The governing council is the highest decision-making body at the colleges which is to approve articles and other write-ups of tutors within the colleges, before publication. Such publications qualify them for promotions.

With the absence of governing councils, there is no avenue for the teachers to tender-in their write-ups, hence their promotions have stalled.

Mr. Obeng-Himah further lamented the delay in completing negotiations with the government over their market premiums. 

“In Ghana, all teachers who teach in tertiary education institutions take home a certain percentage of their basic salary as their market premium in addition to their basic salary. We [college teachers] have been denied all this while….the college teacher will no longer accept this discrimination,” he warned.

He said CETAG had given the government an April 30 ultimatum when it is expected to “have concluded negotiations with the leadership of the Association on what percentage of market premium is deserving of CETAG members and implement same.”

He threatened that if the government fails to meet their demands by the stipulated deadlines, the Association will resort to alternative measures to ensure their demands are met, including declaring a strike.

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The teachers declared the strike last week over their salary arrears, but were willing to call it off following government’s intervention and the commencement of discussions on the matter.

[contextly_sidebar id=”qVwWIEKaS4gyyZxLZ4eiJx9ToU5ShydL”]The Association said the government had failed to pay them their arrears since October 2016.

All 38 Colleges of Education across the country are still closed as academic work is expected to be further disrupted by the development.

According to the teachers, the negotiation with the government to amicably resolve the matter ended without any concrete assurances hence the decision to continue the strike.

The National Secretary of CETAG, Prince Obeng-Himah, in a Citi News interview said the government had failed to honour its obligation which had been clarified in a ruling by the National Labour Commission that CETAG must be paid within 2 weeks.

“We met with the Ministry last Monday, some discussions went on and promises were made and we expected that they will get back to us within the week. Unfortunately, we had a letter from the ministry signed by the Minister of Finance that fell short of the promise they made. It said there were one of two things they have to do before November ending before they can meet with us and agree on a payment schedule, which we think that it is a contradiction to the National Labour Commission ruling that came out on the 4^th of October which directed that they have to pay the money to us in 2 weeks,” he said.

According to them, per the migration of the tertiary statuses of the Colleges of Education following the passage of the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012, the teachers were expected to be paid the salary difference between their previous salary levels and the new salaries from January to September 2016.

CETAG  has said that, until the arrears are paid, they are withdrawing their services from the 38 colleges across the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t, CETAG negotiations on salary arrears breakdown appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The meeting called by the government in an attempt to get the teachers to call off their strike, ended without any concrete assurance to CETAG.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PT7ez2apAiMColDUM4HQtMhH9MljCc0c”]Members of CETAG have been on strike since November 2, 2017, demanding the immediate payment of their nine-month salary arrears, allowances and market premiums.

CETAG is also seeking improved conditions of service.

A spokesperson for ETAG, Charles Amoah Adjei, noted that the Finance Minister was noncommittal as far as their demands were concerned.

“…upon deliberations and consultations, we realized that the money cannot be paid instantly. So we are of the view that the government should commit itself by writing to tell us that we are going to pay the allowances by the end of November.”

The Finance Ministry representative, however indicated the need for consultation with her superiors before any decision is taken.

“All that we told them was that; we are waiting patiently for them to come out with a written document indicating that the arrears will be paid at the end of the month. When we get this, we will gladly move to the classroom. If not, we will continue with the strike.”

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has made pleas to CETAG to reconsider their decision to strike but to no avail.

CETAG has lamented that, despite a directive by the commission asking the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears within two weeks, its members are yet to be paid.

According to them, per the migration of the tertiary statuses of the Colleges of Education following the passage of the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012, the teachers were expected to be paid the salary difference between their previous salary levels and the new salaries from January to September 2016.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Colleges of Education still closed as talks over arrears fail appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The teachers had threatened to down their tools if the government failed to pay salary arrears owed its members since October 2016.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aTRbYcF5Fa2cJRGPQaARRx5SCrgWnw8D”]CETAG had lamented that, despite a directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC), asking the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears within two weeks, they are yet to be paid.

According to them, per the migration of the tertiary statuses of the Colleges of Education following the passage of the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012, the teachers were expected to be paid the salary difference between their previous salary levels and the new salaries from January to September 2016.

CETAG  has said that, until the arrears are paid, they are withdrawing their services from the 38 colleges across the country.

A statement signed by the National Secretary of the Association, Prince Obeng-Himah, and cited by citifmonline.com, said: “On the basis of this development, leadership has decided that members should withdraw our services in all the thirty-eight public colleges of education till such a time that the arrears are fully paid to members, having duly consulted all Local and Zonal branches of the Association on the matter”

The statement directed all members to wear red bands as a mark of the protest.

Strike affects Offinso teacher trainees 

Teacher trainees at the Offinso College of Education in the Ashanti Region say they have begun feeling the impact of the strike by their tutors.

Citi News‘ Hafiz Tijani reported that, Members of the College of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), at the Offinso college, are complying with the directive from their leaders.

The tutors have boycotted lectures today [Thursday], to join their colleagues in other regions in the nationwide action.

Some of the trainees who spoke to Citi News called on the government to address the concerns of their tutors to enable them return to the classrooms.

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By: Mohammed Alabira/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Colleges of Education teachers on strike over unpaid salaries appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is because the Colleges of Education Teachers Association (CETAG), has suspended its nationwide strike and have asked members to return to the lecture halls.

The announcement comes after the government confirmed their migration from the payroll of the Ghana Education Service (GES), to the payroll of the Colleges of Education.

Per this approval, salaries, retention premiums, allowances and conversion differences will be paid to staff in this sector.

President of CETAG, Prince Obeng-Himah, also told Citi News their decision is to give government grace period to fully migrate all their members.

“In a meeting chaired by Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, was able to give us a copy of authorization that the Finance Ministry had issued to the Controller and Accountant General authorizing them to migrate us in October.”

Though Obeng-Himah observed that the October date “isn’t friendly in our system” they have decided to call off the strike following the October assurance and “looking at the fact that our students are on campus and a lot of people have pleaded with CETAG to rescind its decision.”

“We have discussed modalities for the payment of arrears that may accrue as a result of that, we have signed MoU where in that meeting we all came to those agreements. So we are going to study the thing and from this time up to October, we have no problem; but if it doesn’t work out, 1^st November, the Council will decide the next line of action that we are going to take,” he added.

Background

CETAG declared an indefinite strike last week to protest government’s non-migration of its members onto their desired salary structure.

The association noted that, the slow pace of the process might among others affect their salaries and fringe benefits.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The irate youth reportedly broke into Mr. Bonsu’s office, smashed windows and destroyed property belonging to the DCE.

The DCE allegedly fled the scene, along with members of his staff, after being tipped off about the attack.

The Member of Parliament for the Banda constituency, Ahmed Ibrahim had accused the DCE of being corrupt, alleging that Mr. Bonsu had received over GH¢ 2 million from the government since assuming office but had failed to complete any projects in the district.

The MP had called for investigations into the activities of the DCE but was unavailable for comment on the situation when contacted by Citi News.

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Angry Banda youth ransack DCE’s office appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.