The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe is urging the government to address the demands of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) in order to end their ongoing strike.

During an interview on JoyNews' The Pulse on August 14, he emphasised that the solution to the current impasse lies with the government fulfilling its obligations.

"The position of the committee is that government as a matter of urgency should pay the arbitration award awarded to CETAG members far back last year. That should be the beginning point,” he said.

This follows the Deputy Education Minister, John Ntim Fordjour appealing to CETAG to end the strike and return to the classroom, adding that they are working around the clock to ensure their concerns are addressed.

But CETAG has refused the government's appeal to end the strike, insisting that they cannot return to work without the payments.

Read also: Until you provide concrete evidence, we can’t trust you – CETAG tells gov’t

Mr Nortsu-Kotoe mentioned that Parliament had previously met with the Ministers of Education and Employment, urging them to engage with CETAG and create a plan to pay the awards. Despite these efforts, the issue remains unresolved.

Peter Nortsu-Kotoe acknowledged that the Education Committee is finding it difficult to intervene once again to appeal to CETAG to resume work. Despite this, he mentioned that the committee is considering meeting with both the government and CETAG next week to help resolve the ongoing issues.

“So our position is – pay them what is due them now and let them go back. The migration can be taken care of after they have gone back to the classrooms.”

Mr Nortsu-Kotoe also expressed concern about the impact of the strike on students, noting that it could affect the academic calendar.

Touching on closing the schools, he said the Minister of Education, through the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), is the only authority who can order the closure of schools, though he doubts such a directive would be issued.