The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has issued a directive to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), urging him to ensure fairness and transparency in the ongoing teacher promotion process, particularly for those moving from Director One to Director Two ranks.
The Minister expressed concern that any perceived injustice could discourage educators from participating in future promotion exercises. He gave the caution while speaking at the official launch of this year’s National Teacher Prize Awards in Accra on Wednesday, August 20, 2025.
Available data shows that over 50,000 teachers were promoted in the first half of this year, covering the period from 2023 through to mid-2025.
Additionally, more than 1,000 teachers who were previously removed from the government payroll have had their names reinstated ensuring stability in the academic environment.
The Ghana Education Service has since opened another round of applications for teacher promotions into senior ranks for the second half of 2025.
While many teachers and education directors have praised the GES for increased transparency in the promotion process, the Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu insists fairness must remain the bedrock of every decision.
“Director General of GES is here. I should commend him. I was told only yesterday that some persons have seen advert on the promotion of teachers to Director One. He has lauded about the transparent manner he is going about the process so beyond transparency we want you to ensure fairness in the process of determining who deserves what and who should be placed where meritoriously we count on your judgement on that,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the pre-tertiary teacher unions GNAT, NAGRAT, CCT, and TEWU are intensifying calls for improved conditions of service for teachers.
President of GNAT, Reverend Isaac Owusu, is calling on the government to respond swiftly.
“We acknowledge the many challenges teachers face; poor remuneration, resource limitation, work load, infrastructure deficit among others”
In a related development, the National Teaching Council has announced that this year’s National Teacher Prize awards will be held in October.
The Registrar of the Council, Dr. Christian Addai-Poku, emphasized the importance of acknowledging the dedication and impact of teachers in the education sector.
“The theme for this year’s launch is ‘Elevating the Status of the Teacher for Quality Education’. This is selected to profoundly remind us that quality education that we want can only be delivered through the quality of teachers that we have,” he said.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu joins UTAG to mourn helicopter crash victims
