Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has assured the striking teacher unions across the country that government will settle their outstanding promotion arrears owed to them by October 30.
He says government recognises its responsibility as an employer to ensure that teachers receive all payments due to them, including arrears arising from promotions.
Speaking at a two-day symposium and exhibition organised for teachers by the National Teaching Council (NTC) at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall in Accra, Iddrisu said government has accepted responsibility for fulfilling its financial obligations to teachers.
“The government has accepted that I am responsible for honouring my obligations as an employer to all teachers. And we have accepted that we will pay their arrears. We will honour them,” he said.
“If by October 30, your promotion arrears are not paid, then I will have no honour,” he assured.
His comments are expected to ease concerns among teachers who have been demanding the payment of various outstanding arrears, particularly those resulting from promotions and other conditions of service.
The payment of promotion arrears has been a longstanding concern within Ghana’s pre-tertiary education sector, with teacher unions repeatedly calling on government to clear outstanding obligations owed to their members.
The assurance comes after three major teacher unions declared a nationwide strike over the issue.
The Pre-Tertiary Education Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) announced industrial action on September 25 to press government to pay arrears owed to their members.
The unions have maintained that delays in settling the outstanding payments have caused frustration among teachers and have called for concrete action to resolve the matter.
