UTAG Fears Brain Drain Might Hit Universities
University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has stated it is considering another strike following the government’s failure to agree on its tabled demands for improved conditions of service.
UTAG on August 2, 2021, declared strike action to demand the restoration of the lecturer’s entry point salary at the cedi equivalence of US$2,084.00.
On August 18, 2021, the Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations, and Education, representing government, and UTAG imposed a one-month mandatory period beginning August 23, 2021, for negotiations over the latter’s conditions of service.
According to UTAG, the government during negotiation said it could no longer negotiate the Interim Market Premium and Non-Basic Salary Allowance but opted for negotiation concerning the Research component of the Book and Research Allowances (BRA) which also didn’t yield ‘any tangible’ result.
UTAG believes the government did not show commitment in the negotiation process. The only option left for UTAG, it noted, is to resume the withdrawal of members’ services.
It also pointed out that the poor conditions of service of teachers are creating a conducive atmosphere for brain drain as the country witnessed in the 1980s.
“We wish to take this opportunity to remind the Employer (government) that the CoS (Conditions of Service) of the University Teachers are so bad to the extent that our brilliant and promising young students are not attracted to the teaching profession and prefer to go elsewhere to the detriment of their motherland.
“UTAG is worried about what it foresees as a repeat of our sour history i.e. what happened in the 1980s when University Teachers migrated to other countries; in the continent, due to the relatively better CoS they were offered.”
The 13 public universities under UTAG are; University of Professional Studies, (UPSA), University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), University of Winneba (UEW), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), and CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo (CKT-UTAS).
The rest are: Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU), SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape-Coast (UCC), Universty of Development Studies (UDS) and University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS).
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
