Public-School Teachers Are on Strike Until Further Notice — Let Your Wards Stay Home
Parents with children in Ghana’s public basic and senior high schools are being advised to avoid sending their wards to school from Monday, September 28, 2026, unless a new directive or resolution is announced, following the nationwide strike declared by the country’s three pre-tertiary teacher unions.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) declared industrial action on Friday, September 25, over unresolved concerns involving teachers’ conditions of service, promotion placements, arrears and the Deprived Area Allowance.
The unions’ declaration means the issue is no longer simply a pending threat of industrial action. The unions have directed their members to withdraw their services until their concerns are addressed.
For parents, the immediate question is what the strike means for children who are expected to report to public schools on Monday.
Teacher strike: What parents should know before sending their wards
The unions declared the strike effective Friday, September 25, meaning the industrial action was already in force before Monday’s school activities.
The Ministry of Education has, however, scheduled a meeting with the three teacher unions on Monday, September 28. Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu is expected to engage the unions together with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department in an effort to resolve the dispute.
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This creates an important situation for parents. The strike remains the declared position of the teacher unions, but negotiations are also expected to take place on Monday.
Parents should therefore pay close attention to any official communication from their schools, the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education before sending children to public schools.
Unless the industrial action is called off or schools issue clear instructions to the contrary, parents may consider keeping their wards at home rather than sending them to school where normal teaching and learning may not take place.
The position is particularly relevant to pupils in public basic schools and students in public second-cycle institutions whose regular classroom instruction depends on teachers covered by the industrial action.
Why have Ghana’s teacher unions declared the strike?
The three unions have identified several unresolved issues behind the industrial action.
One major concern is the delay in negotiating a new Collective Agreement. According to the unions, the existing agreement has expired, while negotiations for a replacement agreement, which they expected to have been completed by June 2026, remain outstanding.
The unions have also raised concerns about teachers who successfully completed promotion examinations but have not been automatically placed on their appropriate salary scales.
According to the unions, an arrangement existed for teachers who passed the relevant aptitude examinations in December 2025 and February 2026 to be placed on their appropriate salary scales, with arrears dating from January 2026. The unions say that arrangement has not been implemented as expected.
Another major issue is the Deprived Area Allowance.
The unions say the 2024 Collective Agreement requires the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to review the Deprived Area Report before the applicable allowance is negotiated with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.
They maintain that this process remains unresolved. Reports on the unions’ declaration also indicate that they are demanding implementation of a 20 per cent allowance for teachers working in deprived or hard-to-reach areas.
Education Ministry wants the strike resolved
The Ministry of Education has expressed concern about the potential effect of the industrial action on the academic calendar.
The ministry’s Press Secretary and Spokesperson, Hasmin Mohammed, said the Education Minister would meet the unions and other relevant institutions on Monday to work towards resolving the outstanding matters and ending the strike.
The ministry has also appealed to the unions to call off the strike, saying government has made progress on some of the concerns raised.
The ministry’s position is that the dispute requires the involvement of institutions beyond the Education Ministry, particularly the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
What should parents do on Monday?
For parents of children in public basic schools and public SHSs, the safest approach is to monitor official communication closely before sending their wards to school.
The teacher unions have already declared the strike, while the government is expected to meet them on Monday to seek a resolution. This means the situation could change depending on the outcome of the engagement.
Parents should therefore check communications from their child’s school and follow any official instruction issued by the Ghana Education Service or the Ministry of Education.
Parents should also avoid relying solely on WhatsApp messages, social-media posts or unofficial announcements when deciding whether their children should report to school.
For students already in boarding schools, parents should seek specific information from the school rather than assuming that the arrangements for boarding students are identical to those for day students.
The key issue remains unresolved
As of the latest reports available on September 27, the teacher unions had not called off the nationwide industrial action, while the Ministry of Education was preparing for Monday’s engagement with the unions.
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The outcome of that meeting will therefore be important for parents, teachers and students across Ghana’s public pre-tertiary education system.
Until there is a formal resolution or fresh official instruction, parents should remain alert to developments concerning the strike and confirm their children’s school arrangements before sending them to school.
