The Education Ministry is insisting that Colleges of Education will not be closed down despite the ongoing strike by members of the Colleges of Education Teachers' Association of Ghana (CETAG) entering day 65.

The announcement comes on the back of a call by the Teacher Trainees’ Association of Ghana (TTAG) to principals of the colleges to annul the academic calendar since it is left with three weeks for it to come to an end.

• Read also: Colleges of Education deserted as CETAG strike persists

TTAG in its appeal to the Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education-Ghana (PRINCOF) on August 9 said examination for this semester must be withheld while the authorities revise the current semester for a fresh one.

It explained that 54 days of no academic work has rendered the current semester untenable.

But speaking to JoyNews, the Deputy Education Minister, John Ntim Fordjour appealed to CETAG to end the strike and return to the classroom.

"They should come back so an amicable solution is reached. I will appeal to the students to exercise restrain. We have engaged them till now and we will continue to engage them together with members of CETAG. There will definitely be a resolution for learning to continue," he stressed.

Meanwhile, students of the 46 Colleges of Education are beginning to take their destinies into their own hands.

Available information indicates that scores of students have left for home, while the few remaining on campus are demanding closure to ease the burden of rent, feeding, and other costs.

The students say they have almost given up hope of their teachers returning to the classroom anytime soon.

According to them, the prolonged strike has disrupted their academic activities and strained their finances, compelling many of their peers to go home.

One student said that the decision to return home was a good one because the cost of feeding on campus was expensive.

"Feeding on campus has become too much to bear. So, we [students] would rather be ok at home when they [lecturers] return then we also come back,” he said.

Background

On June 14, teachers in various colleges of  education laid down their tools, demanding better working conditions and remuneration packages.

This action was a response to the government’s delay in implementing the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Arbitral Award Orders and negotiated service conditions.

CETAG's demands include the payment of one month’s salary to each member for additional duties performed in 2022, and the application of agreed rates of allowances payable to public universities to deserving CETAG members.