Pay outstanding promotion arrears by November 16 – PRETAG to gov’t

The Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) has urged the government to honour its commitment to pay outstanding promotion arrears to teachers by November 16, 2026, warning that organised labour could respond if the payment is not made.

The association says although validation data indicate that a large number of affected teachers have been cleared for payment, some members are still awaiting their arrears.

In an interview with Charles Owusu Kumi on Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, November 15, PRETAG’s National Communication Director, Kingsley Anyimadu, said the association was hopeful the government would fulfil its promise and avoid another labour dispute.

“We are hoping and praying that government will do the needful. Government will respect negotiations. Government will fulfil promises,” he said.

He added that PRETAG was not prepared to announce any immediate industrial action but would expect a response from organised labour if the arrears remained unpaid after the agreed deadline.

“Obviously, if we do not receive value from tomorrow up to Wednesday, Thursday thereabout, obviously labour will respond. But the response for now we should reserve it,” he stated.

Mr Anyimadu explained that the arrears arose from promotions granted to some teachers about a year ago, whose financial benefits had not been paid.

He said the issue prompted a strike by teacher unions in August and September in solidarity with affected colleagues, after the government failed to settle the outstanding payments.

According to him, following engagements with the government, some payments were made on October 16, but a significant number of teachers did not receive their arrears when the October salaries were paid.

He said the association subsequently returned to the government, which gave November 15 as a new date for settling the outstanding amounts.

Mr Anyimadu said PRETAG’s review of the validation data suggested that most affected teachers had been captured for payment, although some members were still reporting that they had not been included.

“The validation we have seen is that our members have been paid, even though not all. There are pockets of our members who feel they have not been paid. But a large number, a huge number, have been paid. We are yet to see the physical cash in our accounts,” he said.

He stressed that the association was waiting to see the actual payments reflect in teachers’ accounts, adding that the validation exercise was expected to provide a fair indication of what members would receive.

Mr Anyimadu said the government was expected to issue payment advice to the various banks by November 15, although the time taken to credit individual accounts could differ depending on the banks’ processing arrangements.

“The most important thing is that the advice should come from the government to the banks. That one is something that is non-negotiable,” he said.

He added that PRETAG expected all teachers due the arrears to receive their payments within the week.

PRETAG had on October 28 warned that it could resume its strike if the government failed to pay the outstanding promotion arrears by November 16, 2026. The warning followed the government’s failure to meet an earlier commitment to settle the arrears by the end of October.