President of the University Students’ Association of Ghana (USAG), Christian Anderson, has revealed that his administration is working towards engaging the government and the striking tertiary labour unions regarding the impact of the strike on students in these institutions.
Over the past few weeks, the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), Colleges of Education Non-Teaching Staff Association of Ghana (CENTSAG), University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), and Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) and other public university unions have been on strike over unfavorable conditions of service.
Speaking on Campus Exclusive, Christian Anderson revealed that plans are underway for his team to meet the government and the striking labor unions to discuss the way forward to end the strike.
You can not come out to public and release information based on a one sided end so as much as we have engage with UTAG right from national level down various campus level. We have as much of information we need to go to sit down and we have pending meetings with the ministry as its stand over the issues of UTAG strike. We have gone pass the era where we sit on social media and make noise.
He went on to reassure students that his administration is working tirelessly to get the teachers and the other public university staff back to work.
That is why we are trying every means possible to use the right channel meeting with government trying to get them to understand our posture and then when we have our feedback from both parties we know what steps to take and whenever to align to make sure the interest of our students needs are meant.
President of the Student Representative Council of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Majesty Kwesi Asare, who earlier spoke to UniversNews also said that the strike has made students feel useless. He added that it has increased pressure on the university’s social amenities as well.
We are almost approaching 21 days of the strike and it is alarming and dangerous and affecting us greatly us students because you as a students you don’t know your way forward, you don’t know if you should study or not. And in the long run, after they are back they will not extend the academic calender and put pressure on us and it is up for us to learn hard, put pressure on us and at the end of the day you don’t get the best out of students we are looking for at the end of the day. And even our facilities, it’s putting pressure on the amenities so i will understand why a schools management would like close down schools after 21 days.