Teachers who pass promotional exam to get January 2026 start date after gov’t resolves promotion dispute – Apaak

The government has assured teachers that it will deliver on an agreement to resolve outstanding issues surrounding their promotional examinations and salary adjustments. Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Apaak says the government has committed to completing the necessary processes in September, with all teachers who passed the promotional examinations having January 2026 as the effective date for their new positions and salaries. “We expect to deliver as agreed, because we dare not; we dare not fail in fulfilling what we have agreed with the teachers that we will do to ensure that teaching and learning continue unabated,” Dr Apaak said in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, August 31.

His comments follow an emergency meeting convened by the Education Ministry with the Controller and Accountant General, the Director General of the Ghana Education Service and teacher unions. The meeting addressed two major concerns raised by teachers. The first was a requirement for teachers to provide additional documentation, including their last pay slips, before they could be placed on their new salary scales.

Dr Apaak said the teachers objected to the requirement because they were already serving in the education system. Government has consequently agreed that teachers who passed the promotional examinations will no longer be required to provide the earlier documentation. The second issue was the effective date for the new salaries, particularly because teachers sat for the promotional examinations at different times.

“Some teachers wrote the promotional exam before others, and it was not the fault of the second group that they had to write at a later date,” Dr Apaak said. He confirmed that the government has agreed on a common effective date for all successful candidates. “All teachers who have written and passed the promotional exam would have a start date of January 2026,” he stated.

Dr Apaak said the presence of the Controller and Accountant General and the Director General of the Ghana Education Service at the meeting gives the government confidence that the agreement will be implemented. He also thanked the teacher unions for their cooperation, saying the resolution is intended to safeguard industrial harmony and ensure that teaching and learning continue without disruption. The government has resolved a dispute over the implementation of teachers’ promotional examinations, agreeing that all teachers who passed the exams will have January 2026 as the effective date for their new positions and salaries.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Abas Apaak says the decision was reached at an emergency meeting involving the Education Ministry, the Controller and Accountant General, the Ghana Education Service and teacher unions. He said the teachers had raised concerns about being required to submit additional documentation, including their last pay slips, despite already being employees within the education service. Government has therefore agreed that the affected teachers will no longer be required to provide the earlier documentation.