By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Sept. 28, GNA – Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, Monday appealed to teacher unions to suspend their industrial action as negotiations continue over their conditions of service, promotion arrears and other outstanding concerns.
The Minister said the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was expected to meet the teacher unions on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, to continue negotiations on their collective agreement and conditions of service.
The appeal followed an engagement between a government delegation, led by Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, Minister of Employment, Jobs and Labour, and representatives of the teacher unions.
The delegation included the Minister of Education, representatives of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Controller and Accountant-General, and the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
Mr Iddrisu said the meeting was characterised by “open and frank” discussions on the concerns that triggered the industrial action.
He announced the establishment of a validation committee, chaired by the Minister of Labour, Employment and Job Creation, to verify data relating to the government’s commitment to introduce a 20 per cent allowance for teachers serving in deprived areas.
He said the Government remained committed to rolling out the allowance from January 2027, subject to the validation of the relevant data and the development of a roadmap.
The proposed 20 per cent rural posting allowance had previously been announced by Mr Iddrisu as an incentive to attract and retain teachers in deprived and underserved communities.
He said the Government had also outlined steps to address salary placement and arrears owed to teachers who had received promotions but had not yet been placed on their new salary grades.
The Minister said the Director-General, Ghana Education Service, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, had been tasked to submit data on affected teachers through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database for processing by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
The exercise is intended to facilitate the payment of salaries on the new grades and clear outstanding arrears.
Nearly 80,000 promoted teachers are reportedly affected by the salary placement issue.
Earlier agreements between the Government and the unions provided for their placement on the appropriate salary scales, with January 2026 established as the effective date for the promotion-related salary adjustments.
Mr Iddrisu said the Ghana Education Service had been directed to work through the weekend, with regional directors and data-entry officers expected to assist in completing the required data.
He said an update showed that data for more than 29,000 teachers had been captured, while the salaries of those already processed had been included in the September payroll.
Mr Isaac Nii Baah, Head of Salaries of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, said the unions had maintained their strike, rejecting what they described as repeated promises from the Government and demanding concrete written commitments before returning to the classroom.
He said the unions would remain on strike until the outstanding issues were addressed and payments reflected on teachers’ payslips and were credited to their accounts.
“We are not taking promises. We want action,” he said, insisting that teachers would continue to stay at home until they saw concrete evidence of progress.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Kodjo Adams
Email: [email protected]