The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has dismissed suggestions from some Ghanaians to shut down all Teacher Trainee Colleges in light of the ongoing strike by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG).
CETAG initiated a nationwide strike on June 14, citing the government’s failure to implement agreed-upon arbitration awards and other service conditions.
The strike, now nearing two weeks, has disrupted academic activities, leaving many campuses empty of students.
In an interview with Citi News, Professor Francis K. E. Nunoo, Deputy Director General of GTEC, emphasized that closing the colleges is not feasible due to the significant financial consequences it would entail for the institutions.
“Closing the school has financial implications, as well as their staying in school, as you have said. But we were hoping that we have done quite a lot of work, and quite a lot of all their demands are virtually almost addressed.
“So we were hoping that in the next few days, we will bring to a finality to the issues so that they can go back to school. Students are meanwhile doing their practical work so the practical work needs to be supervised. At least they are getting busy with their practical work.
“We are hopeful that in the next few days, CETAG will see a reason to call off the strike. It is when all these do not yield fruit, and then we will consider it.”