The Education Ministry has met with Vice-Chancellors (VC) Ghana to strategize measures to end the ongoing strike by members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).

The meeting follows the court order for the National Labour Commission and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to settle the matter out of court.

Speaking to the media after the closed-door meeting on Friday, Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum assured the Vice-Chancellors Ghana of resolving the impasse as soon as possible.

“Professors, Vice-Chancellors, I am truly appreciative of your commitments to the course. The engagements you’ve been having with your various UTAG members and professors are much appreciated. I will not let you down and I will do everything possible to ensure that we come to an amicable conclusion that will bring joy to the faces of our students who are waiting eagerly to go back to the lecture halls to begin their academic endeavours,” he said.

Chairman of the Vice-Chancellors Ghana, Professor Abednego Okoe Amartey, disclosed that VCs are engaging UTAG at their various campuses to call off the strike action.

“We are doing everything possible to get our lecturers to get back to the lecture halls. The government will engage them further so we are appealing to them to come back to the lecture halls,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) also held a crunch meeting on Friday over its industrial action.

The Court has given UTAG and NLC a grace period of one week for the parties to reappear on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 1pm to give an update on what they agree on.

In an earlier interview with the media, Lead Counsel for UTAG, Kwesi Keli-Delataa, noted that should the parties fail to reach a consensus, the Court will have to make a decision after hearing the NLC’s application.

The National Labour Commission has also invited all parties involved in the matter to appear before it on Monday, February 7, 2022 at 11am.

“The invitation is pursuant to the directive by the High Court at the hearing of the matter by the court today, February 3, 2022,” NLC explained in a press statement.