CETAG strike bites hard as teachers abandon classrooms

Teaching activities in Colleges of Education across the country have ground to a halt as members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) continue their indefinite strike over the government’s failure to fully implement their 2023 Conditions of Service.

The association declared the strike on Monday, November 24, after what they describe as the government’s persistent delay in executing the National Labour Commission (NLC) arbitral award issued on May 2, 2024.

At the Komenda College of Education in the Central Region, students say they have been left without teachers for days, disrupting their preparation for examinations and throwing their academic calendar into disarray.

The situation is no different in the Ashanti Region. JoyNews’ Emmanuel Bright Quicoe reports that students in various Colleges of Education remain in their dormitories, while others loiter around campus with nothing to do. Classrooms have been left completely empty, with only desks and chairs occupying the space.

Some students expressed frustration, noting that this has become a recurring disruption since 2024.

Staff members at the Komenda College of Education told JoyNews that although they are concerned about the impact of the strike, they will not return to the classroom unless the outstanding issues are addressed.

“We feel that our employers have not been fair, especially as some of our colleagues have been sidelined. Our strike will remain indefinite unless all outstanding allowances are paid,” a staff member stated.

In the Upper West Region, students at three colleges — Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education (NJA), McCoy College of Education, and Tumu College of Education are also stranded without academic supervision.

CETAG says it will only call off the strike when the government fully implements the agreed conditions of service and rectifies all pending disparities.

MyJoyOnline