The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) says it has processed promotion records for 52,000 teachers, with payments expected by October 16, 2026, for all records that are successfully verified and validated.
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei said the Ghana Education Service (GES) had submitted the promotion letters and input forms needed for the exercise, allowing CAGD to begin verification. He added that payment will be made through a supplementary payroll, and that any record processed after October 16 will be paid in the November salary.
Mr. Agyei explained that the process began once GES delivered the required documents for the 52,000 teachers. These were the promotion letters and the input forms that CAGD needs before it can act on any promotion.
“As of this afternoon, 2 p.m., they have processed 52,000 promotions on the system, and they have submitted input forms.”
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei
Validation Is the Next Step
Processing on the system is only one stage. Mr. Agyei said CAGD is now checking the submitted documents against payroll records to confirm that three things have been captured correctly: the promotions, the new salary grades and the arrears owed to each teacher.
The check matters because a promotion changes a teacher’s salary grade, and any gap between the approval date and the date of payroll placement leaves arrears that must be calculated. An error at this stage could mean a wrong payment or another round of corrections.
He said the Department expects to finish the exercise within days. Records that pass will be cleared for payment.
Payment Timetable
According to Mr. Agyei, CAGD expects to complete validation by October 12 or 13. He then set out what follows for the records that pass.
“ by the 12th or 13th, that is next week, we’ll be done with the validation process, whatever has been validated, cleared by us, will be paid on or before 16th October.”
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei
The Controller said payment will run through a supplementary payroll, a separate run outside the regular monthly cycle. This allows the Department to pay cleared records before the next normal salary date.
He was equally clear about what happens to records that miss the cut-off. Promotions processed after October 16 will not be paid in this run. They will instead be included in the November salary.
In practical terms, then, the October 16 date applies only to records that are verified and validated in time. A teacher whose record is still being checked or is found to have errors should expect payment in November.
Strike Continues Over Wider Concerns
The announcement comes as the three pre-tertiary teacher unions remain on strike over several outstanding concerns. These include promotion-related payments, the proposed Deprived Area Allowance and the renewal of their collective agreement.
Mr. Agyei said the promotion-related matter is being handled separately, and that the institutions responsible are dealing with the other two issues. The Controller’s remarks therefore address only one of the three grievances behind the strike.
Whether the payment date will be enough to bring the unions back to class remains unclear, since the allowance and the collective agreement are still unresolved. The unions have not responded to the Controller’s timetable in the material available.
Pressure to Clear Backlogs
Delays between a promotion’s approval and the teacher’s placement on the correct salary scale have been at the centre of the dispute. Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), in a statement dated October 7, said the delays defer pay that is legitimately due and create arrears and added administrative cost. It urged CAGD and GES to act at once so that all promoted staff receive their rightful compensation.
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission also met the three unions on October 6 and said talks would resume later, after further consultations.
Against that backdrop, the CAGD timetable gives teachers a firm date to hold the Department to, even though it applies only to cleared records.
Attention now turns to the validation exercise over the coming days. If it finishes on schedule, teachers with cleared records should see their promotion-related payments, including arrears, on or before October 16. Those not cleared by then will wait for the November salary.
READ MORE: Eduwatch Proposes Digital System to Speed Up Teacher Promotions, Payroll Placement
