The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) says its nationwide strike remains in force despite a meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu on Monday.
The union leadership has, however, given itself 48 hours to consult its members on the outcome of the meeting before deciding whether to suspend the industrial action.
“Yes, members. The strike is ongoing. We have assured the Minister that we’ll get back to our constituents and get back to him after 48 hours. So, that is the message,” a union representative said.
The meeting brought together representatives of GAUA, the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG), Vice-Chancellors Ghana and the Education Ministry as both sides sought a way to resolve the dispute.
Among the issues raised by the unions are salary adjustments and market premium disparities, job evaluation and conditions of service, outstanding allowances, retirement arrangements, as well as staff placement and equivalence.
Mr Iddrisu appealed to the unions to suspend the strike and give government one month to address their concerns.
“I want you to give me one month to resolve the issues, and I want you to furnish me with the data to help the resolution,” the Minister said.
He also appealed for calm and cooperation across the university sector.
“I want us to have industrial harmony on all university campuses.”
GAUA, however, says government assurances alone may not be enough to convince its members to return to work, citing previous engagements that failed to result in lasting solutions.
GAUA Secretary Charles Aidoo said members were now demanding concrete action on their concerns.
“We’ve been there before when we signed an MOU with the former Minister for Education. But nothing came of it. So we’ve been there before. And we want to see real results,” he said.
He added that members had become increasingly frustrated by the prolonged nature of the dispute.
“Our members are resolute. Because we’ve taken this for far too long. The cheating has been there for far too long. And our members are simply not happy. They want to see results,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has directed senior management officials of public universities to return to work.
GTEC says officials occupying senior management positions are not eligible to participate in industrial action.
The directive covers Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Directors of Finance, Directors of Internal Audit, Directors of Health Services and other executive and managerial positions.
The Commission has given Vice-Chancellors 48 hours to submit registers of senior management officials who fail to comply with the directive.
The ongoing strike has already disrupted activities at some public universities, with the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and other institutions reportedly suspending scheduled examinations.
GAUA has also raised concerns about the conduct of examinations during the strike, with its General Secretary questioning the procedures being followed at some institutions.
“We want to tell the general public that the integrity of the examinations being conducted in our universities is questionable, because the procedures and the processes leading to the examinations have been sidelined,” he said.
Although GAUA described its meeting with the Education Minister as positive and fruitful, it stressed that the final decision on whether to suspend the strike rests with its members.
The union is expected to consult its members over the next 48 hours and communicate its position to the Minister afterwards.
“We are going to meet our constituents, and within 48 hours, we will see whether we will call off the strike or not,” a union representative said.
For now, the strike remains in force as government and the university administrators work to resolve the outstanding issues and prevent further disruption to academic activities.
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