Pre-Tertiary Teachers Maintain Strike Ahead of October 6 Fair Wages Talks

​A nationwide pre-tertiary teachers' strike will continue uninterrupted after the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) rejected government appeals to return to the classroom. Following a meeting with government officials, GNAT instructed its members to remain home, stating that assurances provided by the Education Ministry lacked concrete action. The union stressed that teachers will only resume work once outstanding payments, including promotion arrears, explicitly reflect on their payslips and bank accounts.

​In a bid to resolve the impasse, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) is scheduled to meet with the teacher unions on Tuesday, October 6. According to Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, the upcoming negotiations will focus on the unions' broader conditions of service and collective agreement. Government officials maintain that dialogue remains the best path forward to restoring stability across the country's public basic and secondary schools.

​To address specific grievances regarding incentives, the government has announced the creation of a validation committee led by the Ministry of Employment and Labour. This panel, which will include representatives from the teacher unions, is tasked with verifying data necessary to execute a promised 20% allowance for teachers serving in deprived rural areas. Government representatives reiterated their commitment to rolling out the rural allowance once the validation roadmap is finalized.

​Despite these formal mechanisms, the stance taken by GNAT highlights a deep-seated frustration with delayed commitments and administrative backlogs. As the strike persists, public attention turns to the October 6 session with the FWSC, which stakeholders view as a critical turning point for reaching a binding resolution and getting students back into the classroom.

@Volta Today