Government has promised to pay arrears owed members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) by the end of January 2022.

This is one of the key outcomes of engagements between the two parties after the latter declared a strike days ago.

The President of CETAG, Prince Obeng-Heman after a crunch meeting with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission over the conditions of service of members of the association told Citi News that the Controller and Accountant General’s Department has expressed optimism that it can process their payments for payment this month.

He, however, noted that the strike will not be called off until a decision is taken by CETAG’s council.

“Government came out with a promise that even though they couldn’t pay in December, they were ready [to make payments]. Controller and Accountant General’s Department said they were in the capacity to make the necessary input to get [us] validated for the January salary. The determination to either go on with the strike or suspend depends on what council will make of the meeting with the government when we brief them within 48 hours,” he said.

Members of CETAG began their strike in all 46 public Colleges of Education last Thursday over claims that the government had failed to implement the 2017-2020 conditions of service, as agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between CETAG and Government.

They want government to pay their interim premiums and book and research allowances.

The last time CETAG embarked on a strike was in December 2018.

This was after it accused the government of breaching the terms of an agreement it had with them on the payment of interim premiums and book and research allowances.

Their strike forced the Ministry of Education to order the closure of all the 46 Colleges of Education in the country.

CETAG subsequently called off the strike after its leadership agreed to resume negotiations with the National Labour Commission and Labour Ministry.