The Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu will meet teacher unions, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department on Monday, September 28, in an effort to resolve concerns over outstanding salary arrears.
Press Secretary for the Ministry, Hashmin Mohammed in an interview on TV3’s Daily Brief, Friday, September 25 said the Ministry was concerned about the strike action declared by the teacher unions, warning that it could disrupt progress made in restoring the academic calendar.
“We are very worried about the strike action declared by the teacher unions because you and I know that it took a lot of effort by the Minister and his team of technical managers to be able to restore the academic calendar,” he said.
“Right now, the Minister intend engaging the other relevant stakeholders in the implementation value chain like the Controller and Accountant General Department, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the teachers on Monday and in that meeting, he is very hopeful that they will be able to find an amicable solution to it,” he added.
He said the Ministry is hopeful that the engagement will produce an amicable solution to the outstanding issues and prevent the strike from affecting academic activities.
“At this stage of the issue, the Minister can only create a platform in order for them to engage and find solution because the compensation goes beyond his responsibility,” Mr Mohammed said.
According to him, the Minister of Education recently met with the various teacher unions, alongside officials from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, where it was agreed that the Ghana Education Service would provide the necessary data to facilitate payment of the outstanding arrears.
Hashmin said the liabilities were inherited by the current government but stressed that the government could not avoid addressing them on the basis that they originated under a previous administration.
“Let me put it on record that these are arrears and liabilities that this current government has inherited but because government is a continuum, we cannot say that because it is something that started in 2024, we will turn our back on it,” he said.
He said the Education Minister would continue engaging all relevant stakeholders to find a solution to the concerns raised by the teachers.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers’ Association of Ghana, PRETAG have declared an industrial action.
The unions have directed their members to stay off the job from today until the government addresses their concerns.
Among the issues raised are delays in the payment of the 20 percent Deprived Area Allowance and the failure to place promoted teachers who have qualified for higher grades on the government payroll.
The unions are also demanding the immediate placement of about 8,000 teachers who, they say, have successfully passed their promotion examinations but are yet to be placed on the payroll.
The leadership of the three teacher unions announced the strike at a media engagement in Accra.
“In light of the above circumstances and given the delays, unfulfilled promises on the part of the duty bearers and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), as well as threats by the rank-and-file of our members, we, the teacher unions, do stand with our members and hereby declare a nationwide industrial action (Strike), effective today, Friday, 25th September 2026,” they said.
