The Minister for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, has concluded an emergency meeting with the leadership of the Pre-Tertiary Teacher Unions, resulting in an agreement that has led the unions to call off a threatened nationwide strike over delays in placing newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales.
The meeting, held at the Ministry of Education, brought together the Minister and union leadership to resolve outstanding concerns tied to the recent promotion of teachers, a process that had left many affected teachers unhappy and prompted the unions to announce plans for nationwide industrial action by the close of Monday, 31st August 2026.
Following the engagement, the teacher unions agreed to suspend their planned strike action after receiving assurances and concrete commitments from the Ministry aimed at resolving the underlying grievances.
The resolution brings to an end week of tension between government and the unions, which had threatened to disrupt teaching and learning across the country’s pre-tertiary education system had the matter remained unresolved.
Among the central outcomes of the meeting was an agreement that the effective date for the substantive appointment of all promoted teachers would be set as January 2026, addressing one of the unions’ core grievances regarding the timeline attached to the promotions.
It was further agreed that all promoted teachers would be placed on their respective salary scales by September 2026.
Significantly, both parties agreed that should any teachers remain unplaced by the end of that month, a supplementary payroll would be raised specifically to ensure that all affected teachers are duly captured and placed on the correct scale, closing off any risk of teachers being left behind in the process.
“In the event that some teachers are not placed by the end of September 2026, a supplementary payroll will be raised to ensure that all affected teachers are duly placed on scale.”
Hon. Iddrisu
No Payslips or Applications Required
A major point of relief for teachers emerging from the agreement was the resolution that placement on the correct salary scale would be carried out automatically, removing several administrative burdens that had previously frustrated affected teachers.
Under the new arrangement, promoted teachers will not be required to travel to their respective District Education Offices to submit payslips, nor will they need to fill out forms or write application letters as part of the placement process.
“Placement on scale shall be done automatically, consequently, promoted teachers are not required to provide payslips, fill any forms or write any application letters for placement.”
Hon. Haruna Iddrisu
According to the outcome of the meeting, close to 80,000 teachers are expected to be appropriately placed on their correct salary scales as part of this resolution, reflecting the considerable scale of the promotion exercise that had triggered the dispute in the first place.
To facilitate this process, the Ghana Education Service (GES) is expected to provide the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department with the necessary data required to effect the salary adjustments and ensure that affected teachers receive appropriate payment in line with their new placements.
Ministry Commends Union Leadership
The Ministry of Education expressed appreciation to the leadership of the teacher unions for what it described as constructive engagement throughout the negotiation process, crediting their willingness to work collaboratively toward a resolution that serves both the interest of Ghana’s education system and, more importantly, the welfare of teachers themselves.
On behalf of government, officials extended what they described as profound gratitude to the country’s teachers, acknowledging their sacrifices and hard work, and committing to fulfilling the terms mutually agreed upon during the meeting.
The agreement reached at the Ministry of Education effectively averts what would have been a significant disruption to pre-tertiary education nationwide, spanning kindergarten through to senior high school.
With concrete timelines now set for both the September placement deadline and the fallback supplementary payroll process, attention will likely turn to how smoothly the Ghana Education Service and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department execute the agreed adjustments in the weeks ahead.
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