By P.K. Yankey, GNA
Takoradi (W/R), Oct. 03, GNA – The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has warned teachers undermining the ongoing industrial action to stay away from teaching in their classrooms.
According to the Association, the strike sought to find solutions to the plight and welfare of teachers and has asked all members to solidarize with the leadership of the Unions.
Madam Edith Adjua Sambo, Western and Western North Chairperson of NAGRAT, gave the warning on the side-lines of a news conference by the leadership of the three teacher unions in Takoradi.
The three teacher unions namely, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT-Ghana) – declared a nationwide strike on September 25, 2026.
The unions cited grievances such as unpaid arrears to affected teachers, failure to place promoted teachers on the right scale and unpaid 20 per cent allowance to teachers in rural areas.
Madam Sambo said the unions embarked on the industrial action because they had been battling government on issues surrounding their action as far back as 2009.
She referred specifically to the deprived area allowance for teachers in rural communities who work under deplorable conditions and are deprived of basic standard of living.
Madam Sambo added that negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement ended as far back as February 2026, but payment had not been made.
On payment of teachers who had been promoted, the NAGRAT Chairperson said out of almost 60,000 teachers who had received promotion letters, only a little over 6,000 had been placed on scale.
She said instead of using the promotion letters to effect payment, the Ghana Education Service (GES) usually subjected teachers, especially those in the remotest parts of the country, to travel all the way to present their letters before payment could be made.
“This frustration the GES has been subjecting teachers to is too much and we felt we had to embark on industrial action to press home our demands,” she said.
Madam Sambo said the teacher unions had been on the negotiating table with government for far too long but nothing concrete had come out to address the grievances and better the living conditions of teachers.
She wondered why teachers who taught every profession in the various sectors of the economy would be treated with contempt.
GNA
Edited by Justin Hilda Paaga /Bertha Badu-Agyei/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter PK Yankey