The 2026 academic year faces an immediate threat of disruption as the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers issues a final ultimatum to the government. More than 6,000 educators across Ghana have warned of a massive street demonstration and a coordinated legal suit over a year’s worth of unpaid salary arrears.
Despite numerous protests throughout 2025, the group claims that administrative negligence at the Ghana Education Service (GES) has pushed its members into abject poverty. This threat comes as schools prepare for a full return to activities this January.
The Lead Convenor of the Coalition, Simon Kofi Nartey, emphasized that the window for a peaceful resolution is closing.
“We are calling on our employer and the government at large to listen to us and have our arrears paid so that we can all have our peace of mind to continue with the good work that we are doing for the country. The few that are left to be issued with their staff IDs should have it before this month’s salary comes, before we hit the street once again”
Simon Kofi Nartey, Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers
The crux of the dispute lies in a significant discrepancy between service rendered and compensation received. According to Mr. Kofi Nartey, a vast majority of the Coalition’s members have been at their duty posts for between 12 and 15 months.
However, through what they describe as systemic failure, these teachers have only received payment for approximately two months of work. This massive backlog has created a financial crisis for newly recruited teachers, many of whom were posted to remote regions and are now unable to sustain their basic livelihoods.
A primary hurdle in the payment process, he noted, is the non-issuance of Staff Identification Cards. Without these identifiers, teachers are effectively blocked from being integrated into the government’s mechanized payroll system.
This technicality has left thousands of civil servants in a state of professional limbo – legally employed and working full-time, yet invisible to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. Hence, the Coalition’s demand that the issuance of the remaining Staff IDs must be completed before the finalization of the January 2026 payroll.
According to the Coalition’s leadership, failure to meet this deadline would result in the “immediate mobilization of teachers for nationwide protests that could derail the first term.”
Legal Recourse And Systemic Unfairness
Beyond the threat of physical demonstrations, the Coalition is consulting with legal experts to file a suit against the state.
They argued that the current delays are arbitrary and discriminatory, pointing to the fact that teachers recruited in the same batch and posted to the same regions have seen vastly different outcomes, with some receiving full pay while others are ignored.
“Some of us started work with colleagues who have received their salaries in full, while others are still going through this ordeal. It is just unfair, and it calls for legal action to be taken against the government.
“We cannot continue to work under these conditions of inequality and financial hardship while our peers are being paid”
Simon Kofi Nartey, Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers
As the January payroll deadline approaches, the pressure is on the Ministry of Education to fast-track biometric registration. The Coalition remains adamant that they will no longer accept “promises” as a substitute for bank credits.
For the Mahama administration, this crisis represents a major test of its commitment to labor stability within the education sector.
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