🚨 MAHAMA CONVENES CRUCIAL MEETING WITH STRIKING TEACHER UNIONS TODAY
PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA HAS INVITED THE STRIKING TEACHER UNIONS, EDUCATION MINISTRY, GES AND OTHER KEY INSTITUTIONS TO A FRIDAY MEETING ON THE OUTSTANDING DEMANDS DRIVING THE NATIONWIDE STRIKE.
PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA HAS INVITED THE STRIKING TEACHER UNIONS, EDUCATION MINISTRY, GES AND OTHER KEY INSTITUTIONS TO A FRIDAY MEETING ON THE OUTSTANDING DEMANDS DRIVING THE NATIONWIDE STRIKE.
A major development has emerged in Ghana’s ongoing teachers’ strike as President John Dramani Mahama has convened a high-level teacher unions meeting for today, Friday, October 2, 2026, to discuss the demands of the striking pre-tertiary teacher unions.
The meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Ministry of Education in Accra and brings together representatives from the government, education sector agencies and the leadership of the teacher unions.
The development comes after GNAT, NAGRAT and PRETAG rejected previous appeals to suspend their industrial action, insisting that they want concrete evidence of progress on the issues they have raised.
TEACHER UNIONS MEETING: WHO HAS BEEN INVITED?
The invitation, signed by the Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, brings together several key institutions whose responsibilities are connected to the issues at the centre of the dispute.
Those invited include the Minister for Finance, the Minister responsible for Employment, the Minister for Education, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Controller and Accountant-General, the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, the Director-General of the Ghana TVET Service and the leadership of the teacher unions.
The invitation reportedly highlights the fiscal implications of the unions’ demands and asks participants to come with relevant information to support the discussions.
This means the meeting is expected to bring the financial, payroll, employment and education-sector dimensions of the dispute into one engagement.
READ RELATED RESOURCES HERE: TEACHER UNIONS REJECT PROMISES: “WE ARE NOT RETURNING TO THE CLASSROOM”
WHY IS THE TEACHER UNIONS MEETING IMPORTANT?
The teacher unions meeting comes after a nationwide strike declared by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG).
The unions began the industrial action on September 25, 2026, citing several outstanding issues affecting teachers.
Among the major concerns are delays in negotiating a new Collective Agreement, the placement of newly promoted teachers on the appropriate salary scales and the implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance.
The unions have maintained that these matters have remained unresolved despite previous engagements with government institutions.
TEACHER UNIONS WANT CONCRETE ACTION
The latest development follows a series of engagements between the unions and government.
At an earlier meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, the government appealed to the unions to suspend the strike while negotiations continued. However, the unions rejected that appeal.
GNAT said teachers would remain away from the classroom until they saw concrete action, including outstanding salaries and arrears reflecting on payslips and being credited to teachers’ accounts.
NAGRAT has also called for concrete and binding timelines before the strike is called off.
The position of the unions therefore makes today’s teacher unions meeting particularly significant because the discussions will take place against the background of their demand for implementation rather than further assurances.
READ RELATED RESOURCES HERE: TEACHER UNIONS DECLARE NATIONWIDE STRIKE EFFECTIVE TODAY
PROMOTION ARREARS REMAIN A MAJOR ISSUE
One of the key issues in the dispute concerns teachers who have been promoted but are awaiting placement on the appropriate salary scales and payment of related arrears.
There is, however, an important distinction between the unions’ concerns and the payroll position presented by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD).
CAGD said it had processed and paid all 6,079 teacher promotion cases for which it had received the required documentation from GES as of September 22.
The department said those cases formed part of an expected 58,620 promotion cases, meaning that many cases had not yet reached CAGD for processing.
This difference in the number of cases received and the broader number of affected teachers is likely to be relevant to discussions about how the outstanding promotion-related payments can be resolved.
THE DEPRIVED AREA ALLOWANCE IS ALSO ON THE TABLE
Another major issue raised by the teacher unions is the Deprived Area Allowance for teachers serving in underserved communities.
The government has previously indicated that it is working toward implementation of a 20% rural deprived area allowance, with a validation process involving relevant institutions and teacher-union representatives.
The unions, however, have continued to demand concrete implementation.
This issue could therefore form part of the discussions during today’s teacher unions meeting, particularly because it involves both policy commitments and financial implications.
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COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS ARE ANOTHER KEY ISSUE
The negotiations over teachers’ Collective Agreement and conditions of service are another major component of the dispute.
The teacher unions have complained about delays in concluding a new agreement following the expiration of the existing arrangement.
Government previously indicated that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission would continue discussions with the unions, with October 6 identified as another date for negotiations on the Collective Agreement and conditions of service.
Today’s presidentially convened engagement therefore adds another high-level discussion to the series of negotiations already taking place.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN AFTER TODAY’S MEETING?
At this stage, it is too early to say what the outcome of the meeting will be.
The meeting itself does not automatically mean that the strike has been called off.
The teacher unions have previously made clear that they want tangible evidence of progress before returning to the classroom, while government has continued to appeal for teachers to resume work as discussions continue.
The immediate questions for teachers and other education stakeholders are therefore straightforward:
- Will government and the unions reach a concrete understanding?
- Will timelines be agreed for outstanding payments and placements?
- What progress will be made on the Deprived Area Allowance?
- Will the Collective Agreement negotiations receive a definite roadmap?
- Most importantly, will the outcome provide enough assurance for the unions to reconsider the ongoing strike?
These questions may become clearer after today’s engagement.
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TEACHERS AND PARENTS WILL BE WATCHING
The ongoing industrial action has implications beyond the negotiating parties.
Teachers, parents, learners, school administrators and education stakeholders are all watching the situation because the duration of the strike could affect teaching and learning as well as the wider academic calendar.
The Education Ministry has previously said that restoring teaching and learning remains a priority and has appealed to striking teachers to return to the classroom.
At the same time, the unions have maintained their position that outstanding issues need to be addressed with concrete action.
Today’s teacher unions meeting therefore represents another significant point in the ongoing dispute.
For now, the meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Ministry of Education in Accra.
The outcome, however, remains to be seen.
READ RELATED RESOURCES HERE: WHY EVERY TEACHER NEEDS A FINANCIAL AND CAREER PLAN
Smart Teachers Avenue will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as more information becomes available.
Source note: This report is based on the October 1, 2026 meeting invitation reported by 3News, together with subsequent and earlier reporting from MyJoyOnline, Ghana News Agency, Citi Newsroom and other cited sources. Smart Teachers Avenue is providing this publication as an education-news update; the positions of government and the teacher unions are presented separately and attributed accordingly.
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