Universities face imminent closure if…
Public universities in the country face imminent closure today if the government does not begin the process to start paying striking university lecturers.
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“We want to see genuine commitment to pay; that is the process to pay. If not, then we will continue the strike,” the President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Dr Anthony Simmons, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
Per their statutes, the universities are to close down if academic work stalls for 21 successive days.
According to Dr Simmons, a meeting in the first week of this month with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the National Security Coordinator agreed on the amount of money to be paid as book and research allowance to the lecturers.
He said the FWSC and the National Security Coordinator, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, were supposed to get back to the lecturers on August 9, 2013, but that had not been done.
“If we are convinced that the money will be paid then we would call off the strike. We would, however, continue if nothing is heard,” he said.
UTAG, on August 1, 2013, embarked on a nationwide strike over their unpaid book and research allowance.
Students of public universities who are expected to resume lectures next week are worried about the current situation.
By Emmanuel Bonney/Daily Graphic/Ghana
