Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu says the government will begin paying promotion arrears owed to teachers, with at least 51,000 promoted teachers expected to have their new salary grades validated and payments made by 16 October 2026.
Mr Iddrisu made the announcement at the 2026 Teacher Prize ceremony in Accra, where he also urged striking teachers to return to the classroom while discussions over their demands continue.
The government has committed to settling promotion arrears owed to all eligible teachers from January 2020, he said.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department have been instructed to verify the records of at least 51,000 promoted teachers and place them on their correct salary grades.
“I have given the GES and the Controller and Accountant-General up to 4 p.m. today, 5 October, to validate at least not less than 51,000 promoted teachers to be put on their new salary grades and their arrears paid through a supplementary intervention on or before 16 October,” Mr Iddrisu said.
He added that the remaining teachers among the approximately 80,000 beneficiaries would have their arrears and salary adjustments dealt with by the end of October.
“I give you that pledge, and I’ll stand in on 30 October on behalf of the President,” he said.
Talks with teacher unions
Mr Iddrisu said the government was engaging teacher unions on three principal matters: the expired collective agreement and conditions of service, the proposed 20 per cent deprived-area allowance, and the payment of promotion arrears.
He said the government remained committed to its manifesto promise on the deprived-area allowance, but that relevant data first needed to be verified to establish which teachers and locations qualified.
The minister said teachers could be transferred from deprived areas to other parts of the country, creating uncertainty over whether they should continue receiving the allowance. Clear eligibility and payment criteria would therefore need to be agreed by the government and unions.
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, supported by the Finance Ministry, has been tasked with negotiating conditions of service with the teacher unions, Mr Iddrisu said.
He appealed to teachers to call off their industrial action and resume normal academic work. Describing teachers as “architects of the future”, he said Ghana’s development owed much to the teaching profession.
While acknowledging that many teachers worked in difficult conditions and needed improvements to their service conditions, he called on all stakeholders to work together to improve economic management and resolve the concerns facing teachers.
New basic education infrastructure model
Mr Iddrisu also announced plans for an integrated model of basic education infrastructure.
Under the proposed system, each school complex would include kindergarten, primary and junior high school facilities, alongside a changing room, laboratory, library and ICT facilities.
He said the model would become the government’s standard for basic education infrastructure and that funding was expected to be included in the GETFund formula from 2027.
The plan is for each region to begin constructing at least 10 integrated schools. Mr Iddrisu said the initiative was intended to help address infrastructure deficits in basic education across the country.
