The Ghanaian government has called on pre-tertiary teacher unions to call off their industrial action as negotiations continue to address their issues. The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, made the appeal on behalf of the government at a meeting with the unions in Accra. The unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), began their strike last Friday.
The teacher unions are on strike nationwide due to the government's failure to resolve outstanding issues concerning the payment of promotion allowances and arrears owed to teachers. In a joint statement dated September 25, 2026, the unions cited three major concerns: the delay in negotiating a new Collective Agreement, the failure to automatically place newly promoted teachers on the appropriate salary scales, and the non-implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance. The existing Collective Agreement had expired, while negotiations for a new agreement remained outstanding.
Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu updated the unions on progress made so far, stating that a validation committee would be constituted to validate data on the government's commitment to implement the 20 percent rural deprived allowance. The committee would be chaired by the Minister of Employment and Labour. Iddrisu assured the unions that the government remains committed to rolling out the rural deprived 20 percent allowance effective January 2027, subject to data validation and a defined roadmap.
On the issue of new grades and salary scales after promotion, Iddrisu said the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) would work with the Controller and Accountant General to update data and enable the processing of salaries on the new grade. The Director-General was tasked with working even during the weekend to ensure that data on nearly 80,000 affected teachers could be submitted and validated. Currently, the ministry has data on up to 29,000 teachers for arrears, but salaries have already been processed for September.
Despite the government's assurances, the teacher unions remain adamant in their action, demanding concrete evidence of progress before calling off their industrial action. The Head of Salaries at GNAT, Isaac Nii Baah, stated that the unions want action, not promises. "Our teachers should continue to stay at home until we see something concrete, until we see the salaries, arrears reflecting on our pay slips and credit to our accounts," he said.
The Vice-President of PRETAG, Addokwei Ayikwei Awulley, also expressed concerns that there had been no headway on the three issues. "The issue about promotions they are giving new timelines and then issues about deprived areas allowance, there is no headway," he said. He assured the rank and file that all grievances had been put forward and that they would be given further instructions after reaching a settlement.
The government team, led by the Minister for Employment and Labour, engaged in open and frank deliberations with the teacher unions over their industrial action. However, the unions insist on seeing tangible results before ending their strike. The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission would meet with the unions on Tuesday to continue negotiations on their collective agreement and conditions of service.
Key points
- The Ghanaian government has appealed to pre-tertiary teacher unions to end their nationwide strike.
- The teacher unions are demanding the automatic placement of teachers who successfully passed promotion examinations onto their respective salary scales, including payment of arrears.
- The government has constituted a validation committee to validate data on the implementation of the 20 percent rural deprived allowance.
