The continued strike by teachers is being driven largely by delays in placing about 80,000 promoted teachers on their new salary levels, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has said.
GNAT’s Head of Salaries, Isaac Baah, said the affected teachers successfully completed promotion examinations in December 2025 and February 2026, with the results released in April.
He said the Ghana Education Service (GES) was expected to compile the results and submit a master list to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) for placement, as had been done over the past six years.
However, Mr Baah said the process was changed this year, with successful teachers instead receiving promotion letters and being required to submit them to the GES for reconciliation before placement.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show, he said the unions raised concerns about the new procedure and subsequently reached an agreement with the government on August 31 for all successful candidates to be placed in September.
He said the agreement also allowed for a supplementary process where necessary.
Mr Baah, however, said only about 6,000 of the estimated 80,000 teachers had been placed by the time September salaries were paid.
“September is here. Teachers went for their salaries. We realised that only 6,000 out of the 80,000 were placed,” he said.
He said the slow pace of placement had contributed to the unions’ decision to continue the strike.
Other demands
Mr Baah said the teachers were also demanding progress on a new collective agreement and the implementation of a deprived-area allowance.
He said the current collective agreement expired in June 2026, although GNAT had submitted proposals to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) in August 2025 to allow negotiations to begin before its expiration.
Negotiations eventually began in April 2026, with seven meetings held so far, he said.
According to Mr Baah, one of the key issues under discussion is the digital support allowance, currently GH¢800 per year and subject to deductions.
He said government had proposed a 10 per cent increase, which GNAT considered inadequate.
“We feel that this is an insult. I even find it difficult to say this on air because it’s so embarrassing,” he said.
On the deprived-area allowance, Mr Baah said the demand had been on the unions’ agenda since 2009 to provide additional support for teachers working in areas where it was difficult to attract and retain staff.
He said the allowance had not been implemented by successive governments despite the issue remaining part of negotiations.
Strike to continue
Mr Baah said the three demands—promotion placement, the collective agreement and the deprived-area allowance—remained unresolved and would have to be addressed before the unions ended the strike.
He rejected calls for further meetings, arguing that the issues had already been discussed extensively.
“We are fed up with the meeting. So no need for another meeting. Just implement it. They should just implement it,” he said.
He said teachers would remain on strike until concrete action was taken to resolve the outstanding concerns.
Mr Baah also said the focus should not only be on the disruption to the academic calendar but on resolving the concerns of the teachers responsible for implementing it.
He said the promotion placement issue affected about 80,000 teachers, while the collective agreement covered approximately 370,000 teachers. The deprived-area allowance applies to teachers serving in designated deprived areas.
