Strike Suspension Doesn’t Mean Prolonged Issues Are Solved — Mad. Boadiwaa

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The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) says the suspension of the nationwide teachers’ strike does not mean the issues behind it have been resolved, and has warned that teachers will return to the picket line if agreements reached with government are not implemented.

NAGRAT’s National Gender Desk Coordinator, Linda Ama Boadiwaa, said the unions suspended the action so that teachers could return to class, trusting that government will honour its assurances. She said negotiations will continue on the non-financial provisions of the collective agreement, and that the unions will closely monitor the implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance in January 2027.

Ms. Boadiwaa said industrial action never arises without cause. It grows out of grievances that remain unresolved, negotiations that drag on and commitments that go unfulfilled, and each of these wears away the trust between employer and employee.

“A strike does not happen in a vacuum. It happens because of unresolved grievances, prolonged negotiations and unfulfilled commitments.”

Ms. Boadiwaa described the collective agreement as the binding contract between teachers and their employer, in which the terms of service are enshrined. The difficulty, she said, is that not every provision of a collective agreement is carried out in practice in Ghana, and that is the problem the unions now face.

She argued that a mechanism must be put in place to make the agreement work, and that the duty bearers responsible for implementation must do what is right.

The unions suspended the strike, she explained, because they believe teachers must return to the classroom. Government has given assurances on issues that are still unresolved, and the unions are trusting that these will be settled. At the same time, they will go back to the negotiating table to address the non-financial provisions of the collective agreement.

She described the outcome as a mixed one. Pupils return to lessons, but matters remain outstanding. A communiqué has set out government’s response to the demands the unions tabled, and the unions want those commitments implemented as stated.

Implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance is scheduled for January 2027, when government is expected to examine the modalities. The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has said government remains committed to rolling out the 20% rural deprived allowance effective January 2027, subject to validation of data and a roadmap in which the teacher unions are represented.

Mad. Boadiwaa said the unions’ emphasis is on whether the modalities are clear enough to support that timeline.

She stated that the unions have already done their part. They prepared a roadmap and presented it for validation by the relevant state agencies, and it is now for those agencies and the duty bearers to review it. The unions also travelled across the country to identify deprived communities, so that the classification rests on evidence from the field.

On feasibility, she was categorical. Implementation in January 2027, she said, is more than feasible, because workers in Ghana serve in communities whose conditions are deplorable. The agreement reached, she added, is that government should start from somewhere and build from there.

Mad.. Boadiwaa said the unions do not want to return to the picket line. She stressed, however, that the strike has been suspended and not called off, and that teachers will go back to it if government fails to deliver.

“We are setting eagle eyes on all the agreements we reached, and we will make sure that not a day passes in the implementation.”

She said the unions will watch the budget and every agreement reached and will hold government to the timelines it has accepted.

The three unions, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), NAGRAT and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), declared the strike on September 25, 2026, over unresolved concerns including conditions of service, promotions and the 20 per cent deprived-area allowance.

The Ministry of Education has since thanked them for suspending the action and urged all parties to sustain the spirit of cooperation.

Attention now turns to the validation of the unions’ roadmap, the resumed talks on the non-financial provisions of the collective agreement and the January 2027 rollout of the allowance. Each will show whether the assurances given translate into outcomes that keep teachers in the classroom.

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