The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Vice-Chancellors of Technical Universities of Ghana (VCTU-G) and the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG) have agreed a series of measures aimed at resolving disputes behind the teachers’ strike.
The organisations met on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at the invitation of GTEC to discuss concerns including unpaid post-retirement contracts, revised promotion requirements and the classification of academic librarians as academic staff.
A joint communique issued after the meeting said the parties remained committed to using dialogue and cooperation to promote industrial harmony and protect the uninterrupted delivery of teaching and learning in Ghana’s technical universities.
Unpaid post-retirement contracts
The parties discussed staff employed by technical universities on post-retirement contracts who, according to the communique, have gone without payment for the past two years.
Their appointments had been approved by GTEC and the affected employees had continued to work in their posts. The parties acknowledged that the matter falls under the remit of the Minister for Finance.
GTEC has undertaken to facilitate a meeting between the affected staff, the Minister for Finance and VCTU-G. That meeting is expected to take place by November 14, 2026, to seek a resolution.
Promotion requirements
The meeting also considered changes affecting Assistant Lecturers and Assistant Research Fellows seeking promotion to Lecturer.
A GTEC letter dated July 31, 2025 introduced a PhD requirement for progression to Lecturer, replacing the previous position under which a doctorate was not mandatory.
TUTAG argued that the change represented a unilateral variation of the amended Scheme of Service for Staff of Technical Universities dated October 8, 2021.
Following discussions, GTEC agreed to exempt certain affected staff from the new requirement. The concession applies to Assistant Lecturers and Assistant Research Fellows who had held those ranks and satisfied their respective universities’ promotion criteria before the July 31, 2025 directive was issued.
Those staff will therefore not need a PhD to progress to the rank of Lecturer.
The classification of academic librarians was also considered. GTEC said it was not opposed in principle to TUTAG’s position that academic librarians should be classified as academic staff.
The parties agreed that the National President of the University Librarians Association would submit a technical paper for consideration and implementation. The document is intended to support further examination of the issue within the technical university system.
TUTAG is expected to consult its general membership and immediately suspend the industrial action while discussions on the remaining concerns continue.
The communique did not state that every issue had been fully resolved. Instead, it set out the proposed meeting with the Minister for Finance, the concession on promotion requirements and the technical paper on librarians’ classification as steps towards addressing the dispute.
The communique was signed by Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of GTEC; Ing. Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, Chairman of VCTU-G; and Prof. Deodat Emilson Adenutsi, National President of TUTAG.
