58,620 Promotions, 6,079 Submitted: GES Must Explain The Missing Teachers

The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD), in its statement dated 27 September 2026, has provided an important clarification on the ongoing controversy over the placement of promoted teachers and the payment of their salary arrears. CAGD states that it received 6,079 completed promotion cases from the Ghana Education Service out of an expected 58,620 cases, and that all 6,079 cases submitted had been processed and paid, including applicable arrears, in the September 2026 salaries.

This disclosure raises serious questions for the Ghana Education Service (GES). If 58,620 cases were expected but only 6,079 had been submitted to CAGD as of 22 September, what has happened to the remaining cases? Why have thousands of teachers who have earned promotions not yet been placed on their appropriate salary scales? What steps has GES taken to complete and submit the outstanding documentation to CAGD?

These questions cannot be answered through silence. GES must account to the teachers it employs and to the public.

The matter is particularly troubling because the three major teacher unions, GNAT, NAGRAT and PRETAG, had already raised concerns over the failure to fully implement the agreed promotion placements and payment of arrears. The unions subsequently proceeded with industrial action after their concerns remained unresolved.

CREP Africa is deeply concerned that while teachers are bearing the financial consequences of delayed promotion placement, GES has not adequately communicated the status of the outstanding cases. An employer cannot remain silent when thousands of its employees are waiting for promotions and salaries they have legitimately earned.

CAGD has now placed its position on record. It says it can only process promotion-related salary adjustments when the required documentation is submitted by the employer. The ball is therefore firmly in GES's court to explain the status of the outstanding cases and demonstrate what it is doing to resolve the problem.

CREP Africa calls on GES to urgently provide the public with a clear breakdown of the 58,620 expected cases, including the number completed, the number submitted to CAGD, the number processed, the number paid, and the number still outstanding. GES must also explain the reasons for delays and provide a definite timeline for resolving all legitimate cases.

Teachers should not have to resort to industrial action to compel their own employer to properly process promotions they have earned.

Promotion is not a favour. Salary arrears are not charity. They are legitimate entitlements arising from work already performed and promotions duly granted.

CREP Africa therefore calls on the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education and CAGD to work transparently and urgently to resolve the outstanding cases.

Mileba Godwin Kwame
President
Centre for Research and Education Policy