Explainer: What teachers are demanding and why they are still on strike

The three pre-tertiary teacher unions in Ghana have been on strike for a week, and the issues behind it remain unresolved. Their leaders are due to meet President John Mahama on Friday, October 2.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) began the strike on Friday, September 25.

On September 22, they gave government until midday on September 24 to act, warning they could no longer restrain their members. When the deadline passed, they went ahead.

Three demands

The unions want negotiations on a new Collective Agreement concluded, promoted teachers placed on their new salary grades and paid the arrears, and the 20% Deprived Area Allowance implemented for teachers in underserved communities.

Promotion arrears:

Teachers who passed promotion examinations in December 2025 and February 2026 have not been moved to the appropriate grades, and the unions say they are doing the work of their new positions without the pay.

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu told the unions on September 28 that information on about 29,000 promoted teachers had reached the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, with a much larger number of cases still being considered.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has until October 5 to submit the rest.

Government says teachers whose data is processed will see their new grades from October, with supplementary payments covering the arrears.

Deprived Area Allowance:

According to the unions, the allowance has been outstanding for years. PRETAG Vice President Adokwei Ayikwei Awulley called the delay one of the most worrying issues for teachers, saying it has been discussed repeatedly without a clear outcome.

Government says it is committed but wants the list of qualifying schools and communities validated first. It has proposed a joint exercise with the unions and is targeting January 2027, subject to the validation being completed.

Collective Agreement:

This is the negotiated framework that sets teachers’ employment conditions.

The unions say the current one expired in June 2026 and they expected a new one by then, but talks with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission have not produced a final agreement.

Government says it is ready to continue.

Why assurances have not ended the strike

Government says it has set out a roadmap: the GES deadline, the arrears process and the validation exercise.

The unions, however, say they have heard promises before and want to see correct placement and actual payment before going back to work.

Upper West leaders of the three unions said teachers will not return simply because payments are being processed, and leaders in the Volta and Oti regions have told members to stay home until the national leadership says otherwise.

What it means for schools

The strike comes shortly after Ghana returned to the September-to-July academic calendar.

The GES has appealed to the unions to reconsider. Director-General Professor Ernest Kofi Davis said the Service is working with the Education and Labour ministries and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department to address the unions’ concerns.

The GES is worried that lost teaching time could force changes to lesson schedules, examinations and the general academic calendar if the strike continues.

President Mahama to meet the unions

President Mahama is set to meet the leadership of the three unions later on Friday.

The Education Ministry, the GES and other agencies are also expected to attend, and the implications for the national compensation budget are expected to be on the table.

Whatever comes out of this meeting, the GES must still submit the outstanding data on promoted teachers by October 5.

Adomonline will keep readers updated.