Upper West teacher unions back national strike and ask for proof of payment before returning to class

Pinned summary · as of 23:55

Teacher unions in the Upper West Region have thrown their weight behind the nationwide strike and say members will stay away from school until the government can demonstrate that it has acted on their grievances. Regional union leaders said so when they addressed journalists together in Wa on 1 October.

What we know

• The regional branches of GNAT, NAGRAT and PRETAG announced in Wa on 1 October that they stand with their national leadership in the ongoing strike.
• The unions said teachers will go back to work only once government offers verifiable evidence that it has paid what is owed and acted on what was agreed, and that repeated assurances are no longer enough.
• Ransford Owusu-Adjei, the GNAT Regional Secretary, said the action rests on three matters: stalled talks on a new collective agreement after the old one expired, the failure to place promoted teachers on the right salary scales and pay their arrears, and the unimplemented 20% deprived-area allowance.
• According to the unions, the allowance for deprived areas has been written into their collective agreement since 2016, and teachers in deprived communities have waited about a decade for it.
• NAGRAT's Regional Chairman, Dominic Yaw Tunti, said school visits found pupils and students on compound but no teachers, and that a promised September payment never arrived.
• Suurweh Joan, NAGRAT's regional gender desk coordinator, said teachers are not happy about staying away from the classroom and appealed to government to settle the three core issues quickly.
• The union leaders said they remain open to dialogue and a peaceful settlement while urging teachers to stay united behind the national leadership.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Chale News reported that the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations urged President John Mahama to step in personally, and that presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the President had directed government to do whatever is needed to end the strike within days; no other report carries either statement.
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  MyJoyOnline reported that union leaders in the Western Region also directed members to keep off the job indefinitely, and that some teachers there continued to teach despite the strike; this has not been confirmed by other reports.
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  Chale News noted that the Upper West union leaders did not spell out which proof they would accept, nor give a deadline for receiving it.
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  The Vaultz News reported that the Northern Region branches of the three unions also back the strike and say the strike began on Friday, 25 September. It said they accused the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Accountant-General's Controller department and government of showing little commitment; no other report carries these claims.
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  Onua Online reported that the Upper West unions welcomed the government's commitments on the deprived-area allowance but said they must now become actual payments; no other report carries this point.

Why it matters for Ghana

Pupils in public schools across the Upper West Region, including those in Wa, are without classroom teaching for as long as the strike lasts, which worries parents. The dispute turns on pay and allowances that decide how teachers in deprived and rural communities are rewarded for working in hard conditions. Families will be watching whether government can produce the payment proof the unions are asking for.