A group of newly posted teachers, comprising graduates from Colleges of Education and universities, has issued a 20-day ultimatum to the government, threatening a massive demonstration on the streets of Accra starting September 23, 2025, if their salary arrears, some spanning 12 months, remain unpaid.
The announcement follows months of financial hardship, with many teachers unable to afford basic needs like food and rent due to the delays.
At a press conference in Accra on Monday, September 8, the group’s Lead Convener, Simon Kofi Nartey, appealed directly to President John Dramani Mahama, whom he described as a “listening president,” to intervene and compel the Ministry of Finance to release funds for their salaries and arrears. “We humbly call for his urgent intervention to ensure that the Ministry of Finance releases the necessary funds without further delay,” Nartey said, warning that failure to issue staff ID numbers, validate their employment, and pay arrears by the end of September will trigger protests to highlight their “displeasure and hardship.”
The teachers shared emotional accounts of their struggles, with one lamenting, “It’s getting worse because we don’t even have money to eat. We have to borrow from colleagues who were posted on the same day.” They highlighted the economic strain, noting that their expected salaries of GH₵3,000 to GH₵4,000 are modest compared to gardeners and laborers earning over GH₵5,000 monthly, yet they face eviction threats due to unpaid rent. “Even those paid monthly are struggling in this economy. How about us? We have nothing,” another teacher added.
Expressing frustration over unfulfilled promises, Nartey noted that the Minister of Education had assured Parliament that payments would be made by August 2025, but no action has followed. The group decried the lack of respect for their profession, with one teacher stating, “We are the ones teaching your ministers, doctors, engineers—yet we are treated as though we do not matter.” They argued that unpaid salaries undermine their mental health and ability to teach effectively, asking, “You can’t expect us to teach with focus and energy when we haven’t been paid for 12 months.”
This is not the first instance of unrest among newly posted teachers. In April and June 2025, similar protests occurred over eight to ten months of unpaid salaries, with the Ghana Education Service (GES) citing expired financial clearances and documentation issues, such as mismatched Ghana Card and SSNIT details, as causes. Of the 12,807 teachers recruited in 2024, 2,113 with staff IDs remain unpaid, and 582 are yet to receive IDs due to validation delays. The GES has since formed a technical committee and secured 2025 budget allocations to address the issue, but progress remains slow.
The teachers remain hopeful for a resolution but are resolute in their plans to protest if the government fails to act. The situation underscores ongoing challenges in Ghana’s education sector, where systemic delays in payroll processing continue to affect teacher welfare and morale.
