The Minister of Education has issued a public appeal to the striking members of the Universities Senior Staff Association of Ghana (USSAG) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to return to work.
The appeal was made during the official ceremony for the submission of the transition committee report for the transfer of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).
Addressing the gathering, which included the President, the Minister framed the appeal as a matter of reciprocal goodwill. He highlighted the government’s commitment to academic freedom as a gesture that should be met with cooperation from the academic community.
“Mr. President, at the time that you are meeting the University of Ghana and academia, I understand that there’s an ongoing strike action. Let me use this opportunity to call on our friends in academia that while President Mahama is honoring his word, he’s giving you unfettered what the constitution guarantees as academic freedom.
“He’s giving it to you absolutely that you will not interfere with the freedom of the university. I do not think that we are reciprocating the gesture kind enough of President Mahama. So may I use this opportunity to call on the striking Senior Staff members and members of UTAG to call off the strike action,” the Minister stated.
Acknowledging the legitimacy of the staff’s grievances, primarily concerning outstanding Tier 2 pension contributions, the Minister provided an update on payments. He revealed that a significant partial payment had been made earlier in the day.
“Understandably, you have two legitimate issues. One, outstanding payment of tier two pensions that has been done partly. We inherited about one billion. As of this afternoon, the controller paid about 396 million Ghana cedis, leaving about 600 million cedis. And that is also the process. Mr President met with the Honorable Minister for Finance and Controller, and we agreed to walk the process to get it done,” he explained.
The Minister’s appeal and financial update come as the industrial action by university senior staff and teachers continues to disrupt academic activities across the nation’s public universities.
The strike, initiated over delays in the payment of pension contributions and other conditions of service, has brought teaching and administrative operations to a standstill.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
