UPDATE ON CETAG-CENTSAG MEETING WITH HON. MINISTER OF EDUCATION
1.
The meeting was chaired by the Hon.
Minister. Present were the Deputy Director-General of GTEC, the Chief Executive
of FWSC, the Executive Secretary of PRINCOF, and Ag. Chief Director, MoE. Other
representatives from FWSC, GTEC and National Executives of CETAG and CENTSAG
were in attendance.
2.
The Hon. Minister informed the
house that he called the meeting to get better clarification on CETAG and
CENTSAG concerns and to appeal to us to call off our strike for him to
intervene to resolve our outstanding issues.
3. He said he has no mandate to chair negotiation meeting so CETAG and CENTSAG should not consider the meeting as such.
4.
CETAG and CENTSAG were given
the opportunity to brief the Hon. Minister on the concerns which have led to
the strike action.
5.
FWSC and GTEC were also given
opportunity to respond to questions from the Minister who said he needed
sufficient clarification on all the concerns raised.
6.
On the Conditions of Service
(CoS) issue, the Hon. Minister impressed on CETAG and CENTSAG to sign off the
agreed rates to enable FWSC to communicate to the MoF for it to be captured in
the upcoming 2023 Budget so that we can be paid from 1st January, 2023.
7.
Leadership then drew the Hon.
Minister’s attention to the unilateral determination of effective date of 1st
January, 2023 by FWSC instead of what the parties mutually agreed on as 1st January 2022.
8.
The Government Team insisted
that once our CoS was not captured in the 2022 Budget, there was no way
Government can implement it retrospectively.
9.
The Hon. Minister once again
asked leadership to call off the strike to enable him have legal mandate to
engage us to resolve our outstanding concerns but leadership declined.
10. On the compensation for all-year-round work for the staff of CoE,
the Hon. Minister informed the house he was not informed about the implications
of the 2021/2022 calendar by GTEC and PRINCOF but believe our request is
legitimate. He noted that he has instructed PRINCOF and GTEC to abolish
the all-year-round calendar system from
the coming academic year. He further informed us that he will not also accept
online teaching mode in the colleges of education in the coming academic
year.
11. The Deputy Director-General responded to the request for
compensation for all-year-round work. GTEC has received our letter requesting
for the compensation and consider the request legitimate. In furtherance of
that GTEC has written to PRINCOF to provide some justifications to enable the
Commission take appropriate action on the request as soon as possible.
12. Regarding the effective date for placing 1st Degree
Holders on 17H on the SSSS, FWSC insisted that the mandate they obtained from
MoF allows for the placement to take place from April 2023. Leadership disagreed to that position of
FWSC.
13. Also, the issue regarding stoppage of allowances for Unit Heads and
retrospective deduction of office holding allowance of some of our members,
leadership has been directed to engage GTEC for a resolution.
14. Before the meeting came to an end, FWSC took both CETAG and CENTSAG
through our separate draft MOU/MOA
for the parties to iron out any differences.
15. FWSC
maintained her position the 1st
January 2023 effective date. They also indicated that they have no mandate
to extend 55% of Public Universities’ rate of allowances for Vehicle
Maintenance, Utility/Electricity Subsidy and Security/Sanitation allowances for
CETAG. For the rest of the generic allowances (commuting, rent and
owner-occupier), FWSC has agreed to grant the 55% of Public
Universities’
rates.
16. FWSC informed the Hon. Minister that GTEC shall conduct a staff
audit tentatively within six (6) months from 1st January, 2023 to
identify equivalent tutor positions in the public universities and their
commensurate remuneration in respect of Research and Generic Allowances
extended to them.
17. In his closing remarks, the Hon. Minister appealed to leadership to
communicate his plea to our respective Councils for them to call off the strike
so that he can intervene to address our outstanding concerns. He also advised
that we sign off the items both parties have agreed on for them to be captured
in the upcoming 2023 Budget so that we continue to dialogue on the flagged items.
18. CONCLUSIVELY, LEADERSHIP WISHES TO STATE THAT OUR CONCERNS REMAIN
UNRESOLVED AFTER TODAY’S MEETING WITH THE HON. MINISTER OF EDUCATION.
