About 28,000 Ghana Education Service (GES) employees awaiting promotion salary arrears may have to wait until November for payment because their records are yet to be validated, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has disclosed.
The delay could affect an earlier government commitment to settle the outstanding arrears by October 30, 2026.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, October 27, the minister said the government had paid the arrears of 52,000 beneficiaries whose records were successfully verified, leaving approximately 28,000 cases outstanding.
He explained that the remaining payments, which include claims by some non-teaching staff, could not be processed until the validation exercise was completed and the verified records entered into the payroll system.
Mr Iddrisu said an emergency meeting with teacher union leaders had been scheduled to discuss the delays and determine when the outstanding amounts could be paid.
He attributed the situation to administrative challenges involving the GES and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, noting that the decision to undertake manual validation rather than automatic processing had slowed the exercise.
The minister, however, assured the affected employees that funding had been provided for the payments in the budget, citing assurances from the Finance Minister.
He urged the workers to remain calm as the government worked to resolve the outstanding claims, adding that discussions would determine whether payments could be made through a supplementary arrangement or later in November.
The development follows a nationwide strike declared by three pre-tertiary teacher unions on September 25 over outstanding promotion arrears and other grievances.
The unions suspended the industrial action on October 9 after engagements with the government and relevant institutions, directing members to return to the classroom on October 12 while negotiations continued.
