The three striking teacher unions are made up of National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) have 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, Haruna Iddrisu, the Education Minister, has begged striking teacher unions to return to the classroom as government engages their leadership to address their concerns.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the striking teacher unions must go back to the classrooms to protect the school calendar, which has only recently returned to the September-to-July cycle.
He urged the teacher unions to return to the classroom as he engages their leadership alongside the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Haruna Iddrisu stated, “I extend a warm welcome to the leadership of our various teacher unions who have publicly and justifiably declared a strike action”.
“But to use this opportunity as their employer to persuade them to keep the academic calendar smooth sailing and smooth running whilst we look into the merits of their legitimate issues and concerns,” he added.
The development follows three main associations of teachers, namely the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), declaring a nationwide industrial action effective Friday, September 25, 2026.
The teacher unions declared that the immediate strike action follows unresolved concerns about their conditions of service, promotion and deprived-area allowance.
At a press briefing in Accra on Friday, September 25, the unions directed all pre-tertiary teachers to lay down their tools and leave the classroom until further notice.
King Ali Awudu, President of PRETAG, disclosed that the unions’ conditions of service expired in June, with efforts to negotiate a new agreement since last year yielding no results.
He stated, “You will recall that we have once engaged the media and informed you that our conditions of service have expired since June. All efforts to get a new one negotiated since last year have yielded no fruits”.
The unions also expressed their dissatisfaction with a proposed 10% increase in the digital allowance, which currently stands at GH¢800 per year.
They further noted that agreement to automatically place about 80,000 teachers who sat for aptitude tests in December 2025 and February 2026 on the appropriate salary scale had also not been implemented.
Mr Awudu also stressed that the deprived-area allowance has still not been resolved since 2009.
The union argued that the commitment to introduce a 20% allowance for teachers in deprived areas has yet to be implemented.
“We are asking all teachers that with immediate effect, as soon as this information goes out, they should put all their tools down, leave the classroom, go home and have a very good rest and wait until they hear from leadership again,” he said.
@ghnow_ Kailani Ibrahim, popularly known as the “Powder Man,” reportedly punched a blogger following proceedings at the Accra circuit Court. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ MTTD police arrested and handcuffed a taxi driver after he allegedly knocked down a person and attempted to flee the scene. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – ADAAMAINA
