The government has made fresh commitments to striking teachers as it seeks to end the ongoing industrial action and restore teaching and learning across the country by next week.
The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, announced the commitments after a meeting with the leadership of the teacher unions on the outstanding issues that triggered the strike.
According to the Minister, the government team, constituted on the instructions of President John Dramani Mahama, engaged the unions in extensive consultations aimed at finding an early and amicable resolution to the impasse.
The team included the Ministers for Finance, Employment and Labour Relations and Education, as well as the Controller and Accountant-General and the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.
Mr Iddrisu said discussions focused on three major issues: promotion arrears, the proposed 20% deprived-area allowance and the expired conditions of service for teachers.
On promotion arrears, the Minister said government had committed to honouring the new grades of all promoted teachers on or before October 30, 2025.
He said the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department would from Monday begin validating the data of up to 51,000 teachers and prepare a supplementary payment schedule for them.
The remaining teachers, he said, would have their promotion arrears added to their October salaries.
“Let me repeat that we will not renege on this pledge as government. We will honour that, and we use that to persuade our teachers to return from Monday by considering calling off their industrial action,” Mr Iddrisu said.
He added that government was also working to settle outstanding promotion arrears dating back to January 2026.
On the 20% deprived-area allowance, which forms part of the NDC government’s manifesto commitments, Mr Iddrisu said a committee comprising representatives of the teacher unions and the Ghana Statistical Service had been established to determine which teachers and communities would qualify.
He explained that the allowance would be location-specific and would not constitute a permanent benefit attached to a teacher.
For instance, he said, a teacher posted to a deprived community such as Labaranga in Tamale South or Golu in the Sissala area could qualify for the allowance but would no longer receive it after being transferred to a school in an urban area such as PRESEC or Accra Academy.
He said the mechanism was necessary to prevent abuse while ensuring that the policy was implemented transparently and with a clear roadmap.
On the expired conditions of service, the Education Minister said the unions had been invited to return to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on Tuesday to resume negotiations on their collective agreement.
He expressed hope that the negotiations would be concluded within one week.
Mr Iddrisu thanked the teacher unions for their engagement with government and said the unions would now consult their members on the proposals presented during the meeting.
He renewed his appeal to teachers to suspend the strike and return to the classroom to protect the country’s academic calendar.
“Our first and primary concern is the restoration of normal academic work, and we are hopeful that sometime into next week we should see a restoration,” he said.
Meanwhile, responding to concerns raised by the Tertiary Universities Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) over a one-off payment of book and research allowances as well as post-retirement contracts for professors, senior members and librarians, Mr Iddrisu said the matter would be reviewed by the Minister for Finance and subsequently submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
He also appealed to TUTAG members to suspend their strike and return to work while government considers their demands.
