Call off strike; we’ll pay – Gov’t to UTAG

The government has appealed to members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to call off their strike because it is ready to pay their book and research allowances.

According to the Ministry of Education, the UTAG members must “exercise maximum restraint while urgent steps are being taken to ensure the payment of the allowances.”

UTAG is on an indefinite strike over government’s refusal to pay their book and research allowance. The teachers say government has failed to fulfill its promise of paying the allowances in spite of numerous promises to do so.

But the Ministry said “it has initiated processes to ensure the release and payment of Book and Research Allowances for the 2014/2015 academic year.”

“The Ministry of Education assures the Senior Members of the public Tertiary Institutions that it has initiated processes to ensure the release and payment of Book and Research Allowances for the 2014/2015 academic year.

“The Ministry is always committed to finding lasting solutions to pertinent issues confronting teachers through the instituted quarterly meeting with Teacher Unions (in this case) UTAG and Polytechnics Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG),” it said in a statement.

It added: “Series of meetings were held with all the stakeholders including, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) over the status of negotiations on Conditions of Service for UTAG and POTAG as well as the way forward for the Book and Research Allowance and the Tertiary Education Research Fund.

“At the recent meeting held on June 1, 2015, the Ministry assured the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Polytechnics Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) of its preparedness to pay the Book and Research Allowance for the 2014/2015 academic year.

“The Minister for Education has since requested the confirmation of rates for 2015 implementation, the Cedi to Dollar exchange rate from the Ministry of Finance as well as a request for the Auditor-General to audit the claims of the Institutions within the tertiary sector for the payment of the allowances.

“The above requests are currently receiving attention from the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry therefore, appeals to the Senior Members of the public Tertiary Institutions to call off the strike and exercise maximum restraint while urgent steps are being taken to ensure the payment of the allowances,” it added.