Public basic schools across Ghana reopened on Monday, 12 October, after three teacher unions suspended a two-week strike in return for dated government commitments on arrears and allowances.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) walked out on 25 September over conditions of service. They called off the action on Friday, 9 October, after a day of talks with the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment, the Council of State and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
The return comes with a clear deadline attached. Union leaders say the suspension depends on the government meeting its commitments and have warned that the strike will resume if it does not.
What the government agreed
Under a communiqué signed by the FWSC, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the three unions:
- An initial 51,000 promoted teachers will be placed on their new salary scales and paid their arrears with October salaries by 16 October.
- All remaining promotion arrears will be paid by 31 October.
- A digital instruction support allowance will be paid in November.
- A professional development allowance will be paid in December. GNAT says this will rise to GH¢3,100, tax-free.
The promotion backlog is large. NAGRAT said earlier in the strike that only a little over 6,000 of nearly 60,000 teachers who had received promotion letters had been placed on their new scales.
GNAT General Secretary Thomas Musah said talks on outstanding issues would continue. “The issues have not been completed,” he said.
Ministry welcomes return
In a statement signed by its Press Secretary, Hashmin Mohammed, the Ministry of Education described the suspension as a positive step towards resolving the dispute through dialogue. It thanked teachers, parents and learners for their patience and pledged to keep working with the unions and the FWSC on teachers’ welfare.
The GES is consulting stakeholders on how to recover lost teaching time. Options include extending school hours and shortening breaks.
Unrest elsewhere in education
Pressure is building at the tertiary level. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has postponed the reopening of its 2026/27 academic year indefinitely because of a strike by the Ghana Association of University Administrators. The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana has threatened to strike from 19 October over unpaid book and research allowances.
The first test of the teachers’ deal comes on 16 October, the deadline for paying the first batch of promotion arrears.
