The Student Representative Council of the Accra Technical University (ATU) has threatened to embark on a mammoth demonstration should government fail to address the needs of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) and the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) in the shortest possible time.
The demonstration, dubbed: “Operation Desert Storm” is in collaboration with Ghana National Union of Technical Students (GNUTS) and will involve the active participation of the ATU which has a student population of about 17,000.
TUTAG on Monday, January 6, declared an indefinite strike to protest non-payment allowances. TUSAAG also followed suit Wednesday.
According to them, the government has “refused to fully comply” with the ruling by the National Labour Commission (NLC) to ensure that its members start receiving their allowances from December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020.
Speaking to JoyNews’ Piesie Nana-Yaw Safo, ATU SRC President, Safo Kwasi Kantanka revealed, this was the second time examination has been cancelled due to the industrial actions of their teachers and administrators.
He further appealed to the authorities to address the needs of Technical Universities and also prioritise their output in the country since their skills can actualise the industrialisation initiatives of the government.
Meanwhile, some students expressed their disappointment that their lecturers have gone on strike two times, over the same issue. They, therefore, called on the government to intervene.
“We really need the government to address whatever they [TUTAG and TUSAAG] are asking for because if we do not write the examinations now, I don’t know when we are going to write it,” a student told JoyNews.
“Some of us are not at the hostel, so we have to board a car to campus every day but lecturers are not available so that means we are just wasting money,” another said.
Source: Myjoyonline.com | Ama Cromwell
