TUTAG to Strike Over NTCE’s Attempt to ‘Undermine’ Technical Universities

The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), has threatened to embark on strike today, Thursday, if some sections of the 2016 Act that establishes Technical universities are amended.

There is currently an attempt by Parliament to amend portions of the Act.

According to the Chairman of the Ho chapter of TUTAG, Albert Laurent Sakabutu, the amendment is going to make it impossible for technical universities to do anything on their own without recourse to the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE).

“We are being told that anything you want to acquire in terms of property you need to seek to approval from the NCTE, this is in clear contravention with the Public Procurement law and the Public Finance Management Act,” he said.

He noted that what the Ministry of Education and the NCTE are up to is nothing but disruption.

“When you look at section 27, which they seek to amend, that section has given the power to our governing council to enact status, now the ministry together with NCTE are coming up to say we need a harmonized status, so they are finding ways and means of seeking the idea of harmonized status into our law, and so they want to amend that section 27. We feel that this government is up to mischief, and this mischief must not be allowed to stand,” he said.

The Technical University’s Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), called on the President Akufo-Addo and the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, in October 2017, to stop the National Council for Tertiary Education’s (NCTE) illegal directives being imposed on the various technical universities.

“The NCTE’s directive on ratification of Harmonized Conditions of Service [which varies from one Technical University to the other] contravenes several sections of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651, which relates to the right of workers to negotiate terms and conditions of employment in Ghana. The right of staff of technical universities to negotiate the relevant terms and conditions of service will be denied or severely curtailed if the proposed procedure by NCTE prevails,” Regional TUTAG President, Peter Awuni stated.

Source: Citifmonline