UG postpones start of 2024/25 academic year amid tertiary workers’ strike

The management of the University of Ghana, Legon (UG) citing a nationwide industrial action embarked on by university workers unions has postponed the commencement of the 2024/2025 academic year.

Initially, the academic year was scheduled to begin with continuing students expected to report between Thursday, September 26, and Monday, September 30, 2024.

Teaching was supposed to start on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, as per the previous academic calendar. However, with the strike in progress, the University has been forced to delay the start of the semester.

The announcement of the postponement of the start of the 2024/2025 academic year was contained a statement sighted by GhanaEducation.org, signed by the University’s Registrar on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

“It is announced for the attention of students and other stakeholders that the commencement of the 2024/2025 academic year has been postponed.

This is due to the ongoing strike action by various employee groupings. Special programmes will, however, proceed as scheduled.

A new date for the commencement of the 2024/2025 academic year will be announced in due course,”  it said in a statement.

The industrial actions involve various university worker unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), the Federation of Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSSAG), and the Technical University Senior Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUSAAG).

The various teacher unions demand that the government address vehicle maintenance and pension allowances.

They are also demanding that the government honour their collective bargaining agreement by the end of September 2024.

The strike, which began on Monday, September 16, 2024, stems from unresolved issues, such as the failure of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to implement approved vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances, despite receiving approval from the Ministry of Finance in August 2024.