Some final-year students of the University of Ghana say they are not enjoying the best of academic life, following the ongoing strike by the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG).

They add that the strike has left them in miserable and helpless states as no supervisor is attending to their project work, which is a compulsory requirement for successful graduation.

“We keep going back to the indefiniteness of the whole thing [strike]. The University’s response so far has been ‘the suspension of exams and adjournment of reopening for the next cohort.’

“That has added to how uncertain things have become for us,” a student told JoyNews on Wednesday.

The students also noted that the strike, if not suspended, will further exacerbate the pressure on them as they would have to write exams and attend to their project work amid undertaking the National Service assignment.

“The strike has affected that structure and what is quite worrying is that we’d have to submit our project work, do our project defense and all those things that would enable us to graduate peacefully.

“There hasn’t been any communication from lecturers to students and the University's Management has also gone blank on us; so, we are just left in the gap, we are just left to wander in the wilderness,” another student lamented.

Telling the story of her frustration, a Level 100 student pleaded for urgent steps to be taken by the government and allied stakeholders to address concerns raised by members of UTAG.

“It [the strike] has kept us confused. I am not happy because it (the semester) was supposed to be thirteen (13) weeks but we did it within six (6) weeks. We, who have sat tirelessly to study, really want to write the exams and get it off our shoulders.

It’s like we’ve just rented an apartment and we’re just relaxing in it,” she said.

The University Teachers’ Association of Ghana has been on strike since August 2, 2021.

Members of the Association want government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon in the 2012 Single Spine Salary Agreement.

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has, meanwhile, called on UTAG to call off their industrial action and continue negotiations with government.

NUGS charged UTAG to, “as an act of good faith towards students and government, avoid an entrenched position in all dialogues to address their concerns.”