A Deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has indicated that the frozen August salaries of striking polytechnic teachers in the country will be paid them.
He gave the assurance on Wednesday and said he was sure the Controller and Accountant General would soon begin the pay process and called for patience.
The teachers, under their umbrella organisation of Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), declared a strike on May 15 to protest Government’s decision to scrap the Book and Research allowance for teachers in tertiary educational institutions.
They however received their May, June and July salaries while away from the classroom, leading to calls for sanctions – including the withholding of salaries – for striking workers to instil discipline.
But speaking to Citi FM on Wednesday to throw more light on an agreement reached between Government and members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) who on Tuesday called off their long-standing strike over the same Book and Research allowance policy, Okudzeto Ablakwa said Government’s disposition to such issues is that normalcy is maintained at all times.
‘We believe that the August salaries will be paid. What we’ve called for is patience because it takes time to process these payments. From what we are gathering from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department the August Salaries will be paid so they just have to exercise patient with the Controller so that these salaries are processed.
‘Government is guided at all times by the fact that we need to ensure normalcy, that the academic calendar should not be disrupted and that all times let us create a very peaceful atmosphere so that teaching and learning can go on on our campuses. That is what really guided our actions and decision,’ he said.
Listen to the Deputy Minister in the attached audio
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