The leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) has reiterated its support for the nationwide strike declared by the three teacher unions.
Acccording to the Greater Accra leadership of the three sriking unions teachers must remain off duty, emphasising that the strike remains in force until their outstanding concerns with the government are resolved.
Addressing a joint press briefing at the GNAT Greater Accra Regional Secretariat, Regional Secretary of GNAT, Cosmos Ennu Kwaw, said the action had become necessary because the government had failed to satisfactorily address key issues affecting teachers.
Cosmos Ennu Kwaw stressed that the immediate concerns of the Teacher include the automatic placement of teachers who have passed promotion examinations, the conclusion of negotiations on a new collective agreement and the implementation of a 20% deprived-area allowance.
“Teachers who sat for the prescribed promotion examinations and were declared as having passed the said examinations should, as has been the practice, be placed on their respective salary levels without any delay”, he stated.
He further stressed that agreement reached on August 31, 2026, between the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service and the teacher unions must be implemented without variation or qualification.
The leadership further cautioned teachers against returning to the classroom prematurely.
Earlier, the three striking teacher unions rejected calls to return to the classroom.
According to the striking teacher unions insist they will only return to the classroom unless the government takes concrete steps to address their demands.
Head of Salaries, Grievances and Negotiations at GNAT, Isaac Baah, disclosed that teachers would remain at home until they saw evidence that the government had resolved their concerns.
Isaac Baah disclosed that the unions expect the outstanding salaries and arrears to reflect on teachers’ payslips and be credited to their accounts before they would consider returning to school.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Head of Salaries, Grievances and Negotiations at GNAT, Isaac Baah stated, “Indeed, we met the minister and his team this afternoon with regard to our strike action. It has been the old story of promises upon promises”.
“At the moment, we are not taking promises. We want action.”
“Our teachers must continue to stay home until we see something concrete,” he said.
“Until we see the salary and the arrears reflecting on our payslips and credited to our accounts, until we see that, we are not going back to school,” Baah said.
“We’ll continue to stay home until all our issues are addressed and resolved,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Public Relations at the Ghana Education Service (GES), Daniel Fenyi, has revealed that they have set next Monday, October 5, as the deadline to resolve the ongoing payment dispute affecting the 3 striking teacher unions.
According to the GES, the deadline is for submitting the documents needed to resolve the ongoing payment dispute affecting teachers.
Daniel Fenyi stressed that the Service is working with the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to address the issue and ensure teachers receive their money.
He argued that the focus now must be resolving the striking teachers’ concerns rather than assigning blame.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, Mr Fenyi stated, “I would very much hesitate to start blame games. Teachers need their money.”
“The Minister met them today and gave them all the assurances. The Minister has also mentioned that in case of the insistence on some input forms and documentation, GES should be able to provide”.
He revealed that the documentation includes input forms, promotion letters and other necessary documents, adding that the figures being discussed cover both teaching and non-teaching staff.
“For the teaching staff, we have about 59 to 60,000 of them,” he said.
He further disclosed that the GES is working to meet the revised deadline. “I can confirm to you from the GES headquarters that, as we speak, there are even some people still at the headquarters working around the clock”, he stated.
“The 4 p.m. deadline is for next week Monday. Next week Monday,” he clarified.
“In fact, we have met a couple of deadlines. We have worked under pressure.”
“Trust us that we will work around the clock to make sure that their desires are really met, so that they can return to the classroom,” he said.
Mr Fenyi stressed that the GES do not want the current situation to disrupt the academic calendar.
“We have stabilised the calendar,” he added.
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