TTAG Speaks On Looming CETAG Strike

The leadership of the Teacher Trainees association of Ghana (TTAG) has publicized it’s position on the looming CETAG Strike.

Per reports, the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana has given notices from 22nd August, 2022, their intention of embarking on an industrial action if government fails to address issues concerning their welfare.

TTAG, through it’s release on 30th August, 2022, wishes to make a professional opinion to its stakeholders and government and as well register it displeasure on the likely halt of academic work.

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Find out details of the release below;

THE POSITION OF TTAG ON THE LOOMING CETAG STRIKE, ITS IMPACT, CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD.

The leadership of the Teacher Trainees’ Association of Ghana (TTAG) has made notices with grave concerns on the notice of Industrial Action served by Colleges of Education Teachers Association (CETAG) on 22nd August, 2022 cited CET/NLC/22.8/Vol.1.

The leadership after a careful consideration of the twofold nature of the matter would want to, by this statement, make a professional opinion to its stakeholders and Government on its displeasure on the likely halt of academic work.

It is a sad development to note that this brouhaha is taking pace and is becoming a perpetual canker for years now. As student teachers, we believe the ripple effect of continuous industrial actions has dire consequence on us now and the future of our country.

At the beginning of 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic year, academic calendar and reopening dates for Colleges of Education were all disrupted as a result of this same menace; CETAG Strike.

Equally in 2018, continuing students and freshmen were duly accommodated on various campuses with the hope that academic works would commence only to be faced with a strike action for weeks. This saw the dismissal of over 400 teacher trainees across the country due to non-performance. With this looming issue, we cannot realistically perish the thought of trainees’ susceptibility to this history on the basis that;

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i. Continuing Students with precision on final and third year trainees who stayed home for over 6 months due to continuous changes of the academic calendar will be reporting to campus for the second session of their semester on 4th September, 2022. This in the long run will have adverse effect on the academic performance of these trainees as well as their output on the field.

ii. The shift/track system which came to bare as a result of infrastructural deficit in Colleges, causing some year groups to stay home while others are engaged for a period of time, will yield no positive results should these issues persist; A prima facie evidence could be cited from the current level 300 teacher trainees, who resumed on January 8, 2022 and returned home on February 25, 2022 from which a strike action had already taken two weeks.

In the spirit of true service to the ordinary trainee, and the joint quest for quality and progressive education in our country, we wish to state that;

a. The actors for and on behalf of the Government should, as a matter of urgency engage the leadership of CETAG to find lasting solutions to these concerns.

b. To aid in solving same, we ask that, in the circumstance where committal compromise can be made by either CETAG or Government, such path should be advanced halfway to avoid all forms of stiff differences which may lead to this strike action as soon as possible.

c. We also call on PRINCOF and GTEC to aid in ensuring that the issues of CETAG are addressed with lasting solution.

To this end, we want to admonish all our fellow trainees to remain resolute and continue to stay safe as the leadership works all means within its capacity to help safeguard the interest of all.