The Education Ministry is preparing another round of engagements with teacher unions and key government agencies as it seeks to address outstanding issues that have triggered an indefinite strike by pre-tertiary teachers.
Press Secretary of the Education Ministry, Hashim Mohammed, disclosed that Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has directed a fresh meeting involving the unions, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and Controller and Accountant General’s Department.
Mr Mohammed explained that the latest intervention follows earlier engagements with the unions and other stakeholders, including discussions held in March to address matters affecting teachers. He noted that the issues cannot be resolved by the Education Ministry alone because teacher compensation involves several institutions responsible for salary administration and implementation.
According to the Press Secretary, the Ministry intends to use the new platform to establish where outstanding processes have stalled and determine the steps required to address the teachers’ demands. The discussions are particularly expected to examine data that was supposed to be supplied by the Ghana Education Service to facilitate salary adjustments for teachers who successfully completed promotion examinations.
Mr Mohammed indicated that the previous arrangement required the relevant data to be provided before the Controller and Accountant General’s Department could begin processing the necessary changes. He explained that any delay in the submission or processing of the information would require the stakeholders to return to the table and identify the source of the difficulty.
“The issue goes beyond the Ministry of Education alone. It needs the collaboration of other stakeholders to resolve their demands, so we need to engage the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the various teacher unions again.”
Hashim Mohammed
The Press Secretary stressed that the government’s position is shaped by the need to resolve the dispute through coordination among the institutions responsible for different aspects of teacher remuneration. He further indicated that the Minister is concerned about the industrial action and wants the parties to use the planned engagement to find a workable resolution.
The development comes after the teacher unions moved to withdraw their services over unresolved matters involving promotions, salary implementation and other conditions affecting members. GNAT, NAGRAT and PRETAG have earlier given government until midday on September 24 to address outstanding issues, warning that teachers could take industrial action if the deadline passed without a resolution.
Teacher Strike Could Disrupt Progress On Academic Calendar
The Education Ministry also warned that prolonged disruption to teaching could undermine efforts that have gone into restoring Ghana’s academic calendar to normal operations.
Press Secretary of the Education Ministry, Hashim Mohammed, explained that the government’s concern extends beyond the immediate dispute with teacher unions because another prolonged interruption could affect the progress made in stabilising the school calendar.
Mr Mohammed pointed to the considerable effort by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu and the Director General of the Ghana Education Service to restore the calendar after earlier disruptions affected the scheduling of academic activities. He indicated that the Ministry therefore views any industrial action capable of interrupting classroom activities as a development requiring urgent attention from all stakeholders.
According to the Press Secretary, the government does not want the current dispute over teachers’ conditions of service to create another setback for schools, particularly at a time when efforts have been made to return academic activities to a more predictable cycle. He noted that the Ministry’s position does not disregard the issues raised by teachers but reflects the need to resolve those matters without creating additional disruption within the education system.
“For us, we do not want any strike action that will disrupt the academic calendar. It took a lot of effort for the Education Ministry and the Director General of the Ghana Education Service to restore the academic calendar, so we do not want another disruption.”
Hashim Mohammed
Mr Mohammed further explained that teacher remuneration requires coordination between the Education Ministry, Controller and Accountant General’s Department and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. He indicated that the involvement of those institutions is necessary because decisions on teachers’ promotions and related financial adjustments require processes outside the direct control of the Education Ministry.
The Press Secretary also pointed to an earlier arrangement under which the Ghana Education Service is expected to provide data to support the implementation of the affected teachers’ salary adjustments. He noted that the Ministry would need to establish whether that process had been completed and, if not, determine what had prevented the required information from moving through the system.
Their latest action has therefore placed renewed pressure on the government to address the administrative and financial processes underlying the dispute. The immediate task involves bringing the relevant institutions and teacher representatives together while preventing the industrial action from creating further interruptions to the academic year.
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