Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has questioned Ghana’s continued reliance on manual processing of teachers’ promotion records, describing the paper-based system as inefficient and a major bottleneck in efforts to resolve the salary adjustment crisis that has triggered a nationwide strike by three teacher unions.
The Minister made the observation during an unannounced visit to the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra, where Ghana Education Service (GES) officials worked through the weekend and into Sunday to enter outstanding data needed for salary adjustments for promoted teachers. The exercise has become a key issue in the ongoing nationwide strike by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), now in its second week.
“We must find a way of doing this better than we are doing. Why are we doing that? Why should teachers at this age be filling forms?” Mr Iddrisu asked during the visit. He said the only sustainable solution was to deploy an IT infrastructure system, adding that he would raise the matter with the relevant authorities to push for a more modern approach.
The Minister expressed hope that the exercise would capture about 51,000 teachers by the close of Monday, October 5, paving the way for government to direct the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) to process supplementary payments by mid-October.
Background to the Crisis
The strike, declared on Friday, September 25, 2026, followed what the unions described as prolonged delays, unfulfilled commitments and growing frustration over issues affecting teachers. The three unions are demanding the automatic placement of teachers who successfully passed promotion examinations in December 2025 and February 2026 onto the appropriate salary scales, together with the payment of arrears effective January 2026. Other demands include the conclusion of negotiations for a new Collective Agreement, which expired in June 2026, and the implementation of a 20 per cent Deprived Area Allowance for teachers in underserved communities.
The government had initially agreed in September to place about 80,000 teachers on their rightful salary scales effective January 2026, following a crunch meeting between the Ministry of Education and the unions. However, progress has been slow. The CAGD revealed that as of September 22, it had processed and paid only 6,079 cases out of an expected 58,620 promotions, leaving 52,541 cases awaiting submission with the required documentation.
Government’s Assurances
At the Ghana Teacher Prize celebrations on October 3, Mr Iddrisu made a firm commitment to the striking teachers. “If by October 30, 2026, your promotion arrears are not paid, then I will have no honour,” he declared. He said government was intensifying engagements with the unions to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing teachers.
The Minister also announced that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission would meet with the teacher unions on Tuesday, October 6, to continue negotiations on their collective agreement and conditions of service. He noted that a validation committee, to be led by the Ministry of Employment and Labour, would examine data relating to the 20 per cent rural deprived area allowance, with implementation expected from January 2027.
Unions Remain Defiant
Despite the government’s assurances, the unions have insisted that the strike will continue until teachers see tangible results. “We are not taking promises. We want action,” said Isaac Baah, Head of Salaries at NAGRAT, after a meeting with the Education Minister on September 28. “Our teachers must continue to stay home until we see something concrete, until we see the salary, the arrears reflecting on our payslips and crediting our accounts.”
Adukwei Ayikwei Awuley, Vice President of PRETAG, said the meeting with government had not produced any concrete agreement on the three major issues raised by the unions and demanded written evidence to support government’s assurance that the deprived area allowance would begin in January 2027.
The GES has been given until 4 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2026, to submit outstanding promotion data to the CAGD for processing. The government says the measures are intended to address the concerns of the teacher unions while discussions continue on their conditions of service and other outstanding issues.
