UTAG strike: Turning the academic calendar of universities upside down is a necessary evil

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has been on strike since 10th January 2022 and has withdrawn teaching and related activities.

The core duties of Academics/lecturers are teaching and research. However, some things worth pondering over are as follows:

1. Does Research form part of the related activities?
1(a). If Yes to Question 1, does this imply academics/lecturers have stopped research activities in our universities?

1(b). Can academics/lecturers stop research due to strike?
1(c). If no to Question 1, are there any exceptions where research activities of academics can take place without involving students?

1(d) Is it possible for academics/lecturers to do research without involving Students?
1(e). Can academics perform research with students without teaching them?

Dear Audience, the research arm in Academia is crucial for personal, institutional, national, regional, and global development.

To complement government efforts in delivering better training in Public Universities in Ghana, some Academics in our Public Universities have fully funded Research for their postgraduate students and provide a monthly stipend of US $ 250-500, and many Academics are working hard to secure Research Grants on the one hand. However, on the other hand, final year undergraduate and master students and second to last year doctorate students are part and parcel of funded and unfunded Research in our Public Universities nationwide!

Dear Government of Ghana, members of UTAG are doing a lot for this country and deserve to be motivated. As you can see, members of UTAG are teaching and helping to reduce the unemployment situation in this country by employing postgraduate students to do Research. Yes, there is nothing better than hiring master and doctorate students to do Research, having their academic facility user fees and residential facility user fee, and being given monthly stipends as mentioned above paid from the research grants.

The above example is the beauty of unique employment that academics/lecturers offer our postgraduate students. Money, mentoring, projection in the global Arena by publishing research findings in reputable journals and certificates during graduation (MMPC)! Potentially, the Government of Ghana can do more to support the MMPC agenda in Public Universities by offering free port clearance of all the equipment and consumables and other materials that come with the grants of academics/lecturers.

I hope and pray that the Government of Ghana shall resolve the UTAG strike soon. However, 5 weeks down the lane of the National UTAG strike calls for turning the Academic Calendar of Public Universities upside down. The norm in the academic calendar of Public Universities in Ghana where most final year undergraduates are doing research in the second semester or third trimester and the second or second to third/fourth year by Postgraduate students is likely to be disrupted.

Therefore, I think that key managers of Public Universities, especially the Deans and Pro-Vice-Chancellors in charge of Research, should explore P
project work for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students in the first semester of the academic calendar to pave the way for a partial closure and not the anticipated complete closure of the Public Universities in Ghana.

Hopefully, we shall witness research engagement with final year undergraduate and postgraduate students in the interim in the coming days. At the same time, UTAG continues talks with appropriate sections of the Government of Ghana to bring the strike to an end since most students will be affected amidst a partial closure of our Universities in Ghana.

It is anticipated that the end of the UTAG Strike marks the beginning of improved Public Universities Education in Ghana.