A coalition of teacher unions has issued a warning of potential industrial action if the government does not place newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales by the close of business on Monday, August 31, 2026. The unions have expressed that this threat comes in response to a directive from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, which they claim contradicts an earlier assurance from the Ghana Education Service (GES) regarding the implementation of the automatic promotion system by August.
During a media briefing in Accra on Thursday, August 27, Thomas Musah, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), described the directive as unlawful. He urged the government to ensure that the affected teachers are placed on their new salary scales by the specified deadline.
“We, the teacher unions, have no choice but to make it clear that the automatic promotion of teachers, or the placement of teachers on the required grade based on their results, must be carried out by the close of work on Monday, August 31, 2026, as promised by the Ghana Education Service,” he stated. Musah cautioned that failure to meet this deadline could lead to industrial action, emphasising that the unions would not be able to prevent teachers from taking such action.
“Failure to do so, whatever happens thereafter, His Excellency should hold the agency heads there responsible. We, the teacher unions, we cannot restrain any teacher from that particular day,” he said. Meanwhile, President of the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), Jacob Anaba, accused the GES of failing to provide teachers with detailed statistics on the outcome of the recent promotional examinations.
He said teachers had traditionally been given a breakdown of the number and percentage of candidates who passed and failed, as well as the number promoted to the various ranks.
“Over the years, when teachers write promotional exams and the results are released, we are given statistics of those that passed and those that failed; the number and the percentage. We are also given another breakdown of the number of people that passed to Deputy Director, Assistant Director I, Assistant Director II, Principal Superintendent. This time, all that has not been done,” he said.
The unions are therefore demanding the immediate implementation of the automatic promotion system and placement of successful teachers on their appropriate salary scales.
