Executive Director for education think tank, Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare is asking government to expedite processes to address concerns of striking teacher unions to avert the escalation of the impasse.

Several teacher unions including the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), Colleges of Education Non-Teaching Staff Association of Ghana (CENTSAG) and the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) are currently on a sit-down strike over concerns of conditions of Service.

The development has left students stranded in their respective schools as their teachers have deserted the classrooms.

Reacting to this, Kofi Asare said if the impasse is not addressed soon, the academic calendar may be affected.

“We are looking at these strikes being resolved before the start of the next academic year. We are optimistic that, in the next couple of days, government and organized labour would have found a solution to these strike issues so that, tertiary academic activities do not get disrupted.”

Other unions on strike are the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

The government has pleaded with striking labour unions to consider the current economic challenges before making demands.

Deputy Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Bright Wereko-Brobby said the atmosphere is not conducive for strikes.

“We are not in normal times, so I am pleading with all our labour unions including UTAG, including the Senior Staff Association and university administrators and all of those groups to bear with us,” he said.