Final year students, preparing to write this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Sunyani Municipality have implored the government to address the concerns and grievances of the striking teachers for academic work to resume.

Four teacher unions have declared a nationwide strike over the government's failure to meet the June 30 deadline they gave it for the payment of their Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA).

The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).

But, the form three students said they were extremely worried because the strike has affected and stalled academic work in the schools.

During a visit to some of the schools in the Sunyani Municipality around 0700 hours on Wednesday, Sompa FM sighted many of the form three students in classrooms, and read their books privately.

Other students were roaming around the school compounds, no teacher was however sighted at the Seventh Day Adventist Basic and Junior High School, the Sunyani Methodist Cluster of Basic Schools and the SUSEC Model Basic School.

Some of the form three students, who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity said they just completed their Mock Exams and their teachers were taking them through revision, until the strike was declared.

They therefore appealed to the government to listen and address the concerns of the teachers so that they would rescind their decision, return to the classroom and prepare them adequately for the BECE.

"We have a lot to cover in our syllabus. We even need the teachers to help us solve past questions so that we can write and pass our exams well", one of the students indicated.

Meanwhile, the situation was however not different at the Sunyani Senior High and Twene Amanfo Senior High and Technical Schools, as many of the students were sighted on campus.

Though some personnel of the National Service were sighted in the schools, they were not teaching.

Source…www.sompaonline.com/Dennis Peprah