President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has welcomed the suspension of the industrial action by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and expressed optimism that ongoing negotiations will result in a durable agreement between the parties.
He said the roadmap agreed upon by stakeholders should be implemented faithfully to ensure a lasting resolution to the dispute.
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“There is a roadmap that has been established and hopefully both parties will make sure that this roadmap is carefully implemented,” the President said.
“It is in the interest of all of us that there is no disruption of academic work. The teachers should have the wherewithal to undertake and discharge their obligations.”
President Akufo-Addo made the remarks when the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), led by its President, Emmanuel Yiadom-Boakye, paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra.
During the meeting, the student leaders presented concerns affecting tertiary education, including significant increases in hostel fees at public universities and delays in the acquisition of United States visas by some Ghanaian students.
The delegation also introduced the newly elected national executives of NUGS to the President.
President Akufo-Addo stressed the important role university lecturers play in shaping the country’s future workforce and called for an amicable settlement of the dispute to guarantee an uninterrupted academic calendar.
He also assured the students that the concerns they had raised would receive the necessary attention from the government.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Mr Yiadom-Boakye commended the government’s negotiating team, including the Ministers of Education and Employment and Labour Relations, for facilitating dialogue that led to the suspension of the strike action.
He appealed to both UTAG and the government to avoid taking entrenched positions that could delay negotiations and prolong uncertainty within the country’s universities.
On accommodation challenges, the NUGS President expressed concern over rising hostel fees, alleging that some university authorities were deliberately creating artificial shortages of on-campus accommodation.
He called on university management to adopt a flexible approach in negotiations with private hostel operators under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement and urged the government to invest in the construction of more student hostels to address the growing accommodation deficit at tertiary institutions.
