TUTAG threatens to embark on strike

The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), has threatened to embark on an industrial action if the government does not amend some sections of the 2016 Act that establishes Technical universities.

The Chairman of the Ho chapter of TUTAG Albert Laurent Sakabutu said that an ongoing amendment will only allow the universities do anything after they have consulted the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE).

“We are being told that anything you want to acquire in terms of property you need to seek to approval from the NCTE, this is in clear contravention with the Public Procurement law and the Public Finance Management Act,” he said.

He said that the Ministry of Education and the NCTE are only trying to be disruptive.

“When you look at section 27, which they seek to amend, that section has given the power to our governing council to enact status, now the ministry together with NCTE are coming up to say we need a harmonized status, so they are finding ways and means of seeking the idea of harmonized status into our law, and so they want to amend that section 27. We feel that this government is up to mischief, and this mischief must not be allowed to stand,” he said.

In October 2017, the association called on the President Akufo-Addo and the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, to stop what they described as the NCTE’s illegal directives which were being imposed on them.

“The NCTE’s directive on ratification of Harmonized Conditions of Service [which varies from one Technical University to the other] contravenes several sections of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651, which relates to the right of workers to negotiate terms and conditions of employment in Ghana. The right of staff of technical universities to negotiate the relevant terms and conditions of service will be denied or severely curtailed if the proposed procedure by NCTE prevails,” Regional TUTAG President, Peter Awuni stated.