Teacher unions stay off classrooms as GES appeals for a return and cites shared blame

Pinned summary · as of 15:52

Pre-tertiary teachers who joined a nationwide strike on 25 September remain out of class, and the Ghana Education Service (GES) has urged them to go back while talks continue. GES officials say the dispute cannot be laid at the agency's door alone, but the unions say recent meetings with government have produced no new commitments.

What we know

• Three unions, GNAT, NAGRAT and PRETAG, which represent pre-tertiary teachers, launched a nationwide strike on 25 September 2026 and it was still under way this week.
• The unions' concerns include the placement of newly promoted teachers and payment of the resulting arrears. Ghana Education News lists the deprived-area allowance and the teachers' collective agreement among the issues, and The Vaultz News reports the same three demands.
• GES officials have publicly asked the striking teachers to reconsider. GES public relations head Daniel Fenyi and Director-General Prof. Ernest Kofi Davis each urged a return to the classroom while talks go on.
• GES says it is working with other bodies on the unions' demands. Mr Fenyi listed the education and finance ministries, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Controller and Accountant-General's office, while Prof. Davis also mentioned the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
• Both Mr Fenyi and Prof. Davis pointed out that, after about six years, the school year has again begun in September at all levels of education.
• The unions have said they need to see real progress on their demands before they call off the strike. They said a meeting with the Education Minister brought no new commitments, and their members were told to stay away from school until the issues are addressed.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

• ?
  Mr Fenyi rejected the suggestion, which he attributed to commentator Franklin Cudjoe, that GES was late in sending documents to the Controller and Accountant-General's Department. He said blame should be shared among all the bodies handling different stages. The Vaultz News carried these remarks on 27 September, and Mr Cudjoe's own position has not been reported.
• ?
  Mr Fenyi told Ghana Education News that a 31 August agreement provided for promoted teachers to be placed automatically on their new ranks, and that the later demand for GES to submit documents was not part of it. He added that the Education Minister had told GES to send the documents by Monday, 5 October, and that GES expected to meet the date. These accounts have not been confirmed by other reports.
• ?
  Ghana Education News reported a communiqué from PRETAG's Communications Directorate saying promoted teachers were to move onto the correct pay scales automatically during September, with no forms or letters of application. It also reported Mr Fenyi's statement that the new ranks were more likely to show in October pay, possibly through a supplementary voucher.
• ?
  According to Ghana Education News, the government said arrears going back to January 2026 were under consideration although data verification problems persisted, and it asked for time until January 2027 to settle the planned allowance of 20 per cent for teachers in deprived areas. The Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, was reported to have set up a validation committee of government and union representatives. No other report confirms these steps.
• ?
  Prof. Davis told MyJoyOnline that the establishment for the Director-2 rank had grown from 272 positions to 4,405 and that for Director-1 from 20 to 88, and he said teachers should be thankful for gains made in a year and a half. He also said a promotion exercise was under way with an examination expected within one to two months. These figures come from him alone.
• ?
  The Vaultz News reported Mr Fenyi as saying the Ministry of Education would meet the unions on Monday, and Ghana Education News reported that union representatives would take the outcome of the latest engagement back to their councils. The outcome of any further talks has not yet been reported.

Why it matters for Ghana

With classes disrupted, children in public schools across Ghana lose teaching time just weeks after the academic year returned to a September start. Teachers awaiting correct salary placement and arrears are watching whether payments arrive in October. Parents in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and beyond will be looking to the next round of talks for a date when pupils can go back to class.