Teacher Unions Set August 31 Deadline Over Delayed Promotions

A coalition of teacher unions has threatened industrial action if the government fails to place newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales by the close of work on Monday, August 31, 2026.

The unions say their decision follows a directive from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department which, they contend, conflicts with an earlier assurance from the Ghana Education Service (GES) that the automatic promotion system would be implemented in August.

Speaking at a media briefing in Accra on Thursday, August 27, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) General Secretary, Thomas Musah, described the directive as unlawful and urged the government to ensure that affected teachers are placed on their new salary scales by the stated deadline.

Mr Musah said the unions expected the automatic promotion and placement of teachers to reflect the results of the recent promotional examinations.

He warned that failure to meet the deadline could result in industrial action, adding that the unions would not be able to prevent teachers from taking action after Monday.

Meanwhile, Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) President, Jacob Anaba, criticised the GES for failing to provide teachers with detailed statistics on the outcome of the latest promotional examinations.

According to him, teachers have traditionally received information showing the number and percentage of candidates who passed and failed, as well as a breakdown of successful candidates promoted to various ranks.

Mr Anaba said such details had not been provided this time, raising concerns among teachers and their unions.

The teacher unions are therefore demanding the immediate implementation of the automatic promotion system and the placement of all successful teachers on their appropriate salary scales.

They have maintained that failure to address the issue by the August 31 deadline could pave the way for industrial action.