The Upper East Regional leadership of three teacher unions has reaffirmed its support for the ongoing nationwide strike, insisting that teachers will not return to the classroom until outstanding concerns affecting their welfare are addressed.
The position was made known at a joint press conference in Bolgatanga addressed by the Upper East Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Lare Kitonname; the Regional Chairman of the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Union of Ghana (PRETAG), Richard Sunday Yinbil; and the Regional Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), John Akunzebe.
The union leaders said the industrial action was triggered by several unresolved issues that have created frustration and growing anger among teachers across the country.
According to the unions, one of the major concerns is the failure of the authorities to automatically place newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales.They said an agreement reached between the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, and the leadership of the teacher unions has not been fully implemented.
The unions further complained about the failure to automatically place two cohorts of teachers who successfully passed the aptitude tests conducted in December 2025 and February 2026 on their respective salary scales, with Responsibility, Experience and Service (RES) effective from January 2026.
They said the situation had heightened tension among their members.
The teacher unions also raised concerns over the failure to implement the deprived area allowance for teachers working in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
They referenced Section 17.2 of the 2024 Collective Agreement, which provides for a review of the deprived area report by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, followed by negotiations between the unions and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on the applicable allowance.
The unions said the required process had not been completed.
They described the situation as a disregard for a 2024 ruling by the National Labour Commission and said it also conflicted with a directive attributed to President John Dramani Mahama for teachers working in deprived and hard-to-reach communities to receive a 20 percent allowance on their basic salaries as an incentive to remain in such areas.
Another major concern, the unions said, is the delay in negotiating a new collective agreement for teachers.
They explained that the existing collective agreement has expired, while negotiations for a new agreement, which they expected to have been concluded by June 2026, remain outstanding.
According to them, several engagements with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission have failed to resolve the matter.
The union leaders said the continued delay had become a major source of concern for teachers.
The Upper East regional branches of GNAT, PRETAG and NAGRAT therefore declared their full support for the continuation of the industrial action.
They maintained that teachers in the region would continue to stand with the national leadership of the unions until their concerns were addressed.
The regional leadership stressed that the strike would only be called off when the outstanding demands of teachers were satisfactorily resolved, paving the way for members to return to the classroom.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com