TheGhana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) says it is considering suspending its strike following what it describes as positive commitments from the government to address some of its outstanding grievances.

GAUA National PresidentKwaku Karikari Amoah said the association’s national executive would consult its local branches before taking a final decision, with the outcome expected to be communicated to the Education Minister within an agreed 48-hour period.

He said the decision followed a meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, vice-chancellors of public universities, representatives of university administrators and other stakeholders.

“The signals are positive, but unfortunately we cannot communicate anything now,” Amoah said in an interview on theAsaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (18 August).

He said the parties had agreed on specific timelines for addressing some of the association’s concerns, including a commitment by the Education Minister to facilitate payment of a one-off research allowance for senior administrators in the technical universities.

According to Amoah, the minister had signed a document directing the Ministry of Finance to make the necessary arrangements for payment of the allowance by the end of September.

He said the official responsible for compensation at the meeting confirmed that the directive had been received and was being processed.

Mr Amoah also said the government had addressed a dispute over the retirement of senior non-teaching university staff.

GAUA had objected to an arrangement under which senior non-teaching members would retire when they reached the month in which they turned 60, rather than at the end of the academic year.

He said the Education Minister consulted vice-chancellors at the meeting, who confirmed that the established practice had been for senior university staff to retire at the end of the academic year.

“Senior members non-teaching can only go on retirement when the academic year has ended because we are part of the academic calendar,” he said.

He said the minister subsequently directed the Technical Universities Council to communicate the arrangement to the universities.

Amoah said several other grievances remained outstanding but described the meeting as a significant development.

He estimated that about 50 percent of GAUA’s grievances had been addressed, although the association was waiting for formal communication before making a final determination on the strike.

Amoah said GAUA was not considering permanently ending the industrial action but could suspend it to give the government time to implement the commitments.

“We don’t end strikes just like that. So if anything, we put it on hold,” he said.

He said the association would prepare a written response detailing the issues discussed, commitments made, timelines and recommendations, and would develop key performance indicators to monitor implementation.

The approach, he said, was intended to avoid the difficulties GAUA had encountered with previous memoranda of understanding, where implementation depended on agencies that were not present at the negotiating table.

“We are not looking at any MOA but we are looking at the commitment that will be binding commitment that the minister on moral grounds appeals to us in the presence of all the vice-chancellors who were there and national committee members who were present,” he said.

Amoah said the association wanted peace on university campuses and did not want the strike to disrupt the academic calendar.

“We want to respect the minister and we respect him so much. He gave us a very good impression yesterday,” he said.

He added that GAUA would consult its members before deciding whether to suspend the strike.