As at Friday (January 5), students at the University of Technology (UTech) are able to formally access grades for semester one of the 2023-24 academic year, as restive staff suspended all grade entries amid an ongoing compensation impasse with the Government.

The university administration, in a statement, apologised to stakeholders for the inconvenience caused by staff actions but was also grateful to the “various parties for their efforts to facilitate a settled environment and advancement in the wellbeing of the community”.

Following what can be described as “reasonable discussions” between union heads at Papine-based university, representatives from the ministries of finance and education, members of the Public Sector Transformation and Implementation Unit and UTech executives, student grades are accessible in addition to “all other services that may have been suspended or delayed by academic staff earlier this week”.   

The University of Technology Academic Staff Union (UTASU) indicated on Tuesday that its members will be suspending all grade entries for semester one 2023/2024 until they receive the compensation review proposal from the Government.  

Resulting from the meetings, the Government’s proposed salary bands were shared with union heads. 

Academic staff at the university are represented by the University of Technology Academic Staff Union (UTASU), the administrative staff are in the University of Technology Administrative Staff Union (UTASA) while the technical and ancillary staff are represented by the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU).

UTASU and UAWU have been agitating for the implementation of the Governments’ compensation review while UTASA has been advocating for a parity exercise before implementing the compensation review. Discussions and exercises are underway for the parity exercise on behalf of UTASA.