Ebola, strike delay reopening of tertiary institutions

The spread of the Ebola viral disease in West Africa has prompted the Ministry of Education to postpone reopening tertiary education institutions for the new academic year. But many believe the real reason for the two-week delay was an ongoing strike by university lecturers.

Members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, or UTAG, have been striking over the payment of their book and research allowance. The action would have kept lecturers out of classrooms even if students had returned.

In a statement postponing the 2014-15 academic year, the Ministry of Education said it was “acting on the advice of the inter-ministerial team on the Ebola viral disease”.

It decided that the start of the 2014-15 academic year should be postponed by at least two weeks from 15 August. But it looks like there will be further delays because institutions do not seem close to having the “necessary screening and preparedness measures” in place on campuses to tackle the Ebola threat.

The inter-ministerial committee was set up to institute measures to secure the country’s borders against the entry of people carrying the virus, and to prepare for a possible outbreak.

As part of the measures, the government has also put a freeze on international conferences and public gatherings.

Fear of the disease spreading is based on information from the World Health Organization, or WHO, that Ebola “is a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%”. WHO said the infection was “transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people”.

Between 19 and 20 August, WHO said there had been 142 new cases of Ebola as well as 77 deaths reported in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. So far the four countries have reported 2,615 cases while 1,427 people have died. Last week Ebola was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Against this background, Ghana’s government seemed justified in calling for the postponement.

The strike

Earlier strike action by members of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana – POTAG – which started in May for the same allowances reason, left the polytechnic sector almost crippled as teachers abandoned classrooms.

Last February, as reported by University World News, the government set up a committee to develop the implementation of a proposed national research fund to support the activities of academics.

But academics vowed to fight the fund because it would scrap a book and research allowance for all lecturers, guaranteed in their conditions of service.

Following negotiations with the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations Haruna Iddrisu on 26 August, POTAG finally resolved to end the strike.

It appeared as if the move to postpone the reopening of campuses had provided government with an opportunity to deal with the POTAG strike. But it is not yet clear if it is going to find a solution to the UTAG strike any time soon.

POTAG officials said the decision to return to the classroom followed assurances Iddrisu made that the government had decided to continue paying the book and research allowance. It does look as if this is the only way out of the strike for the government.

However, peace negotiated with POTAG executives might be temporary because the union has made it clear that it will not accept anything short of the continuation of payment of the allowances. It was for this reason that members ignored calls by the National Catholic Bishops’ Conference and other bodies that had appealed for an end to the strike.