A confirmed report from the News Desk of the Colleges of Education Weekly Journal (CoEWJ) indicates that the leadership of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) will today, Monday, December 13, 2021 serve a notice of the Association’s intention to withdraw its services across all the 46 public Colleges of Education come 6th January, 2022.
According to the information gathered by CoEWJ, the intended industrial action is grounded on the following issues:
- CETAG and the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 24th September, 2021 after reaching agreement through negotiation on 2017-2020 Conditions of Service (CoS) for members of the Association.
- The said MoU contained the effective date of implementation as January 1, 2021 while payment of associated arrears of nine (9) months were to be paid in October, November and December 2021.
- The months of October and November 2021 ended without any payments being made to members of the Association.
- CETAG members are anxiously and patiently waiting for full payments of the agreed allowances (January 2021 to December 2021) at the end of December 2021 without which the Association shall activate its intended strike action.
According to the leadership of CETAG, their members across the 46 public Colleges of Education have resolved to embark on the indefinite industrial action effective January 6, 2022 in response to Government’s violation of the signed MoU as well as the roadmap for the payment of the agreed allowances, if the said payments are not made in full at the end of December 2021.
Speaking exclusively with the News Desk of CoEWJ, Prof. Mohammed Salifu, Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) responded to the concerns raised by the leadership of CETAG.
In his response, Prof. Salifu indicated that the MoU between CETAG and the government was signed on the 24th September, 2021 and Ministry of Finance approval was issued to the Controller & Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) for implementation on the 26th October, 2021, GTEC was only copied in that letter.
Prof. Salifu added that, GTEC was however proactive and requested for data from the Colleges upon sighting the Ministry of Finance approval letter on the 28th October, 2021. A letter was sent to all Colleges of Education on the 5th of November, 2021 with a timeline of November 12, 2021.
ALL COLLEGES 2021/2022 ADMISSION LIST- CHECK HERE
The Director-General of GTEC further stated that “the validation exercise began on 28th November, 2021 when GTEC had received a substantial number of submissions from the Colleges of Education. As at December 01, GTEC was still receiving inputs and seeking clarifications from some Principals and Finance Officers. A list of submitted data and those outstanding was sent to the PRINCOF President and also communicated to the CETAG to assist in getting the data from the affected Colleges”.
When the News Desk asked Prof. Salifu about the Status of the Validation, he stated that “Generic allowances for all Colleges except NJ Ahmadiyya College of Education is complete and ready for transmission to the CAGD for processing and payment. Validation of the Position (Office holding) Allowances is ongoing and expected to be concluded by December 17, 2021”.
Prof. Mohammed Salifu admonished CETAG Members across the 46 public Colleges of Education to exercise restraint as the issue is being worked on.
Story by: Larry K. Agbador, CoEWJ
Source: CoEWJ
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