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Teacher Unions Suspend Planned Strike After Talks with Education Minister

A coalition of major teacher unions in Ghana has suspended its planned nationwide strike over delays in placing newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales. The decision followed a meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu on Monday, 31 August 2026.

The unions had threatened industrial action if the issue was not resolved by the close of that day, potentially affecting more than 300,000 teachers across pre-tertiary institutions.

Background to the Dispute

The tension arose after teachers who successfully passed promotion examinations in 2025 remained on their old salary scales for over a year, missing out on the financial benefits of their new ranks. More than 100,000 teachers were reportedly affected.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) had earlier given assurances that the automatic promotion system would be implemented by August 2026, with teachers placed on the corresponding salary grades without needing extra paperwork. However, a directive from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) required additional lists and documentation before the promotions could take effect on the payroll.

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Teacher unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), argued that the CAGD directive contradicted the GES assurance and was inconsistent with established practice since around 2020. They demanded that the effective date for salary placement be backdated to December 2025 rather than July 2026 and insisted the process be completed by 31 August.

GNAT General Secretary Thomas Musah had warned that the unions would no longer be able to restrain members from taking industrial action if the deadline was missed, stating that agency heads should be held responsible for any resulting disruption.

The Meeting and Outcome

Ahead of the deadline, the Ministry of Education scheduled a meeting with the leadership of the coalition for 11 a.m. on 31 August. Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Apaak had appealed for calm, noting that a strike covering kindergarten through secondary school would have serious consequences for the education system.

OUTCOME OF MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION ON AUTOMATIC PLACEMENT OF TEACHERS WHO WERE SUCCESSFUL IN THE LAST PROMOTION

At a meeting with the Minister of Education on the the current issue of teacher automatic promotion placement the underlisted agreement has been reached:
1. The automatic placement will be done by September, 2026.
2. Arrears will start from January, 2026 for all those who sat for the aptitude test in December, 2025 and February, 2026.
3. With regards to the renewal of the expired Collective Agreement, the Minister of Education has agreed to engage the Minister of Finance to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Thank you

ISAAC BAAH
(HOD: COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS – GNAT)
FOR : General Secretary – GNAT

Following the engagement with Minister Haruna Iddrisu, the unions suspended the planned strike. They opted instead to allow further discussions with the government to resolve the outstanding salary placement concerns. The meeting is expected to open the door for continued dialogue between the Ministry of Education and the teacher unions.

Broader Context

This episode fits into a pattern of labour negotiations in Ghana’s education sector, where dialogue has often averted full-scale industrial action. Similar engagements have previously led to the suspension of strikes by other groups, such as university administrators and lecturers, after governmentTeacher Unions Suspend Planned Strike After Talks with Education Minister

A coalition of major teacher unions in Ghana has suspended its planned nationwide strike following a meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu on Monday, 31 August 2026. The unions had threatened industrial action over delays in placing newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales.

The decision averts a potential disruption that could have affected more than 300,000 teachers across the country.

Background to the Dispute

The tension centred on teachers who successfully passed promotion examinations in 2025. According to the unions the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) more than 100,000 of these teachers had remained on their old salary scales for over a year, missing out on the financial benefits of their new ranks.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) had earlier assured that the automatic promotion and salary placement system would be implemented by August 2026. Under this arrangement, teachers promoted to higher ranks are supposed to be automatically moved onto the corresponding salary scales without needing to submit additional applications or documents.

However, a directive from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) requiring extra lists and documentation before the promotions could be processed created a bottleneck. The unions described this as inconsistent with the GES assurance and set a firm deadline of close of work on 31 August 2026 for the placements to take effect. Some leaders also pushed for the effective date to be backdated to December 2025 rather than July 2026.

The Meeting and Decision to Back Down

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu met the leadership of the teacher unions on Monday. Following the discussions, the coalition opted to suspend the planned industrial action and allow further engagement with the government to resolve the outstanding salary placement issues.

The Ministry of Education had earlier scheduled the meeting after the unions issued their ultimatum, with Deputy Minister Dr Clement Apaak confirming that the minister had directed engagement with the unions to prevent disruption.

What Happens Next

The suspension of the strike is expected to open the door for continued dialogue between the Ministry of Education, the GES, the CAGD, and the teacher unions. The core demand remains the prompt and automatic placement of the affected teachers onto their new salary scales so that their remuneration matches their promoted ranks.

Teachers and education stakeholders will be watching closely to see whether the promised resolutions materialise in the coming days and weeks. For now, the decision by the unions to back down after constructive talks has prevented a major disruption to teaching and learning at a critical time in the academic calendar.

The development underscores the importance of timely communication and coordination among government agencies when implementing policies that directly affect the livelihoods of public sector workers.