Teachers Suspend Nationwide Strike After Govt Assurances
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Teachers Suspend Nationwide Strike After Government Assurances
Ghana’s pre-tertiary education sector can breathe a little easier. The country’s three major teacher unions have suspended their nationwide strike, following assurances from government that more than 80,000 qualified teachers will finally be placed on the salary scales they’re owed.
The breakthrough came after a closed-door meeting between the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRE-TTAG), and the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu.
At the heart of the dispute were teachers who had already completed the promotion process but hadn’t been placed on the appropriate salary scales. The unions wanted financial clearance and proper placement for these teachers a demand that had gone unresolved long enough to trigger industrial action.
Following the meeting, government instructed the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department to finish placing the affected teachers by September.
Deputy Minister of Education Dr Clement Apaak said government also agreed to simplify the placement process itself, cutting out some of the bureaucratic steps that had been slowing things down. Going forward, teachers won’t need to travel to regional or district education offices just to submit payslips and other documents after passing their promotion exams.
Upon hearing about the teachers’ strike, the Minister instructed that we convene a meeting involving GNAT, NAGRAT and PRE-TTAG. The outcome of the meeting has been positive, and we can announce that the teacher unions have agreed to continue with their dialogue so that teaching and learning may continue, Apaak said.
He described the unions’ concerns as sufficiently addressed and thanked them for meeting government partway. The issues they raised have been sufficiently addressed. On behalf of the government and the Minister, we want to express our gratitude to the teacher unions for indulging us and agreeing to a compromise on their issues.
GNAT General Secretary Thomas Tanko Musah confirmed that the strike suspension rests on specific commitments made during the meeting, and said the unions will be watching closely to see those commitments followed through particularly around promotion salary payments.
At the meeting with the Minister of Education, we agreed, as requested in our letter, that the substantive date for the payment of promotion salaries is now January 2026 instead of July 2026, which was advertised, Musah said.
PRE-TTAG President King Ali Awudu also confirmed the suspension and urged teachers to head back to their classrooms. He said the union is looking forward to teachers being placed on scale by September, with a fallback plan in place for anyone who slips through the cracks. We have asked the teachers to go about their duties, and we look forward to being put on scale by September. Those who will not be able to go through by September will be captured under a supplementary budget to get them paid.
NAGRAT President Jacob Anaba struck a slightly different tone, making clear that this agreement doesn’t close the book on every issue teachers have raised. He assured members that government’s follow-through will keep being monitored, and that more concerns still need addressing.
We want to assure our members that all your concerns are being dealt with. This is the beginning, and there are more issues. We will listen to you and we will resolve them, Anaba said.
All three unions say they’ll continue engaging government on the issues that remain outstanding, while keeping a close eye on how well the latest agreement is actually implemented. For now, though, the strike is over and teachers across the country are expected to be back in their classrooms, with teaching and learning resuming in pre-tertiary schools nationwide.
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