Teacher Unions suspend planned strike after government addresses promotion concerns

Pre-tertiary teacher unions have suspended their planned strike after government addressed concerns over automatic promotion placements and agreed to review the process.

The decision follows an emergency meeting between the Ministry of Education and leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and other teacher unions.

The unions had threatened to lay down their tools in protest against a process they considered unfair and unjustified, particularly the requirement for teachers who passed their promotion examinations to submit additional documentation before receiving their appropriate salary placements.

Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, who addressed the media after the engagement, said the meeting had produced a positive outcome and the unions had agreed to suspend their intended action.

“The outcome of the meeting has been positive and we can announce that the teacher unions have agreed to continue doing their work.”

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According to Dr. Apaak, the decision means there will be no interruption to teaching and learning in Ghana’s pre-tertiary institutions.

“That means that teaching and learning in our pre-tertiary institutions would continue,” he said.

One of the major issues that led to the planned strike was the requirement for teachers to visit district and regional education offices with placement slips and other documents before they could be placed on the correct salary scales.

Dr. Apaak said government had addressed the concern and teachers would no longer be required to undertake that process.

“Teachers will no longer be required to go to district and regional education offices to provide place slips and other documentation as a prerequisite for being placed on the right salary scales based on the promotional exam that they wrote and passed,” he explained.

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He said the agreement forms part of the measures reached to resolve the dispute and prevent the issue from affecting the delivery of education.

He disclosed that government and the unions had agreed that teachers who wrote and passed the promotion examinations would have a start date of January 2026.

“The agreement is that all teachers who wrote the promotion exam and passed will have a start date of January 2026,” Dr. Apaak stated.

Government expects the agreement to benefit close to 80,000 teachers who are due to be placed on their appropriate salary scales.

“It is our expectation that close to 80,000 teachers would be placed on their right salary scales and would receive the expected salaries as per their promotions,” he said.

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Dogbatse Atsu Eugene

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