Govt approves GHC1billion to pay unpaid teachers, nurses salaries

According to the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, the Government of Ghana (GoG) has approved the release of GHC1.1 billion to pay salaries owed to more than 6,200 teachers and nurses in the country.

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

The Education Minister also said that the Cabinet has given the green light for the affected teachers — and some health professionals — to be officially recruited into the public sector payroll.

“A few weeks ago, myself and the Chief Director received a petition from some teachers over their unearned salary for a number of months without pay,” the Minister stated.

“I am happy to announce that the Cabinet has given approval for the 6,200 teachers to be absorbed in the process in due course. As I assured them, they will get their back pay,” he said.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu further explained that the approval covers both health workers and teachers, emphasizing the government’s commitment to preventing further industrial actions.

The Cabinet gave approval to spend about 1.1 billion cedis to absorb a category of health workers and teachers. The process will start soon,” he said, adding that “I am confident this will prevent teachers and health professionals from picketing at the various ministries.”

This year, Ghana is hosting the ADEA Triennale on Education, which is one of Africa’s premier high-level forums for political dialogue, peer learning, and the exchange of knowledge and impactful experiences in education.

It brings together African policymakers, educators, development partners, and researchers to reflect on critical themes shaping the transformation of education systems for sustainable social and economic development across the continent.

The 2025 Triennale builds on the legacy of the previous three held in Ouagadougou (2012)¹, Dakar (2017)², and Mauritius (2022).

This year’s edition of the ADEA Triennale on Education takes stock of the progress made since 2022 and explores the implications of recent continent-wide developments.

These include the designation of 2024 as the Year of Education for Africa by the African Union (AU), and the adoption of 2025–2034 as the Decade of Accelerated Education by the AU’s Fifth Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology (STC-EST5).

The 2025 ADEA Triennale will span five days and include a mix of high-level policy dialogues, technical sessions, country and partner roundtables, and side events. The format will foster peer learning, innovation sharing, and collaborative problem-solving.

About 800 participants (500 in person and at least 300 virtual) are expected to grace the event, representing policymakers, development partners, private sector, civil society, the academia, and other key stakeholders in education in Africa and beyond.