Gov’t to pay 6,200 unpaid teachers

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced that Cabinet has approved the absorption of 6,200 teachers who have been working for over eight months without pay.

Speaking at the launch of the ADEA Triennale on Education Conference, Mr Iddrisu revealed that Cabinet had approved the payment of salaries owed to newly posted teachers, including graduates from Colleges of Education and universities.

“A few weeks ago, the Chief Director and I received a petition from some teachers who were unhappy with the government over their unending work for a number of months without pay. I’m happy to announce that Cabinet has given approval for the 6,200 teachers to be absorbed. We’ll begin the process in due course,” he said.

The Education Minister noted: “We will give them back pay. I think I can speak for both ministries in this matter. Cabinet gave the Minister of Finance approval to spend about 1.1 billion Ghana cedis to absorb a category of health workers and teachers.”

To address the persistent challenge of students struggling to gain admission to their desired Category A schools, Mr Iddrisu outlined a strategy to expand access.

The plan is an equity distribution initiative that will elevate certain Category B schools to the more sought-after Category A standing. He cautioned that this effort requires substantial funding to support infrastructure expansion.

“The ministry acknowledges that there is a significant challenge when there are 76,000 vacancies, but 393,000 qualified applicants desiring to fill them. The challenge is described as a near impossibility.

“To address equity and capacity, I have discussed with the President a plan for 2026 to convert at least 10 Category C schools to Category B, and 10 Category B schools to Category A. This conversion will be backed by infrastructure development, including classroom blocks, dormitories for students, and quality improvement through enhanced teaching and learning materials and aids. But I will need budgetary support and allocation to do that,” Mr Iddrisu indicated.

The announcement follows a petition presented on Tuesday, 30 September, by the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers, made up of graduates from Colleges of Education and universities, to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance over 13 months of unpaid salaries.

Upon receiving the petition, the Education Minister assured the teachers that a joint memorandum with the Ministry of Finance would be sent to Cabinet to address their concerns.