The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) is expected to meet the leadership of three striking teacher unions on Tuesday, October 6, as government intensifies efforts to resolve the unions’ concerns over their conditions of service.
The meeting follows a renewed appeal by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu for the teachers to suspend their nationwide strike and return to the classroom while negotiations continue.
Speaking at the 2026 Ghana Teacher Prize ceremony on Monday, October 5, Mr Iddrisu said government was committed to addressing the concerns raised by the unions and restoring normal teaching and learning across the country.
“May I renew my call to teachers that today is your day. As you celebrate your day today, be reminded that you’re the architects of your future. A strike action can disrupt that future. You must consider calling off the strike action and restoring normalcy,” he said.
The Minister said the government, under President John Dramani Mahama and with the support of Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, was ready to engage the unions to find an amicable resolution to the dispute.
He disclosed that the FWSC had been given the full mandate of the Minister of Finance to meet the teacher unions on Tuesday.
“The government of President John Dramani Mahama, with the support of Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, will seek to resolve your issues. I assure them that tomorrow [Tuesday], the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has the full mandate of the Minister of Finance to engage with you to find an amicable way,” he said.
20% deprived-area allowance
Mr Iddrisu also announced that the 20 per cent deprived-area allowance for eligible teachers would be paid once the validation process to identify beneficiaries is completed.
The announcement comes amid a nationwide strike by the three teacher unions over several outstanding demands, including the payment of salary and promotion arrears and concerns about their conditions of service.
Promotion arrears have been a longstanding issue within Ghana’s pre-tertiary education sector, with teacher unions repeatedly calling on successive governments to settle outstanding payments owed to their members.
The Tuesday meeting between the FWSC and the unions is expected to be critical in determining whether progress can be made towards resolving the dispute.
Its outcome could also influence the unions’ decision on whether to continue the industrial action or return to the classroom, with thousands of pupils and students affected by the disruption to academic activities.
