The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has announced the payment of promotion-related salary adjustments and arrears to 56,003 Ghana Education Service (GES) teachers.
The Controller payment meets the October 16 deadline agreed upon with teacher unions.
In a statement issued on Thursday, October 15, 2026, the Department disclosed that 49,725 teachers received their payments alongside their October salaries, while another 6,278 were paid in September.
Also, the payments cover salary adjustments and arrears dating back to January 1, 2026.
The development comes on the heels of an agreement reached on October 2 during a meeting between government representatives and teacher unions at the Ministry of Education, where October 16 was set as the deadline for settling the outstanding promotion-related payments.
The CAGD revealed that the GES submitted supporting documents for 56,633 of the approximately 80,000 teachers reported to have been promoted, adding that after verifying the records, the Department approved payments for 56,003 teachers.
They further disclosed that about 630 cases remain outstanding due to discrepancies identified during the verification process.
According to CAGD, it is awaiting the necessary corrections from GES before payments can be made to the affected teachers.
They further disclosed that the remaining 23,367 promoted teachers are yet to have their cases processed and supporting documents submitted by GES for verification.
CAGD explained that it had completed payments for all teachers whose submitted records satisfied the required payroll conditions, adding that outstanding eligible payments would be processed once complete and accurate documentation is received from GES and successfully verified.
The Department further expressed appreciation to GES, teacher unions, and the relevant ministries and agencies for their cooperation in facilitating the payments.
Meanwhile, the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) has told the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, that the government’s commitment to clear outstanding promotion arrears will not, on its own, be enough to bring an end to the nationwide teachers’ strike.
According to PRETAG, several demands of the three striking teacher unions contained in agreements with government remain unresolved.
PRETAG argued that the unresolved agreements make it difficult for the teacher unions to suspend the industrial action based solely on assurances over the payment of arrears.
The association argued that a 20% professional allowance has remained outstanding despite commitments made by successive administrations, disclosing that the teachers are still waiting for concrete action on the allowance as well as other provisions contained in their collective agreement.
PRETAG President King Ali Awudu stated, “We are in 2026, and we are talking about the same thing that His Excellency also promised”.
“Our collective agreement with government is not willing to give us anything. These last two have not been met,” he said.
“The idea of calling off the strike is such a difficult one,” Mr Awudu said,
PRETAG comment follows Haruna Iddrisu, who assured striking teachers across the country that the Mahama government will settle outstanding promotion arrears owed to them by October 30.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the government recognises its responsibility as an employer to ensure that teachers receive all payments due to them, including arrears arising from promotions.
Speaking at a two-day symposium and exhibition organised for teachers by the National Teaching Council (NTC) at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall in Accra, assured that the government had accepted responsibility for fulfilling its financial obligations to teachers and would ensure that outstanding promotion arrears were paid.
Haruna Iddrisu added that by October 30, if teachers’ promotion arrears are not paid, then he has no honour.
The Education Minister stated, “The government has accepted that I am responsible for honouring my obligations as an employer to all teachers. And we have accepted that we will pay their arrears. We will honour them.
“If by October 30, your promotion arrears are not paid, then I will have no honour.”
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