Pupils of Old Edubiase Methodist Basic School in the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region have abandoned their classrooms for farms, markets and football fields as the ongoing nationwide strike by pre-tertiary teachers disrupts academic activities.

A visit to the community on Thursday, October 8, 2026, revealed school-going children engaged in various activities during school hours, with no teaching and learning taking place.

While some pupils accompanied their parents to cocoa and food crop farms, carrying cutlasses and baskets, others were seen hawking boiled eggs, sachet water and other items along the principal streets of Old Edubiase.

Several others loitered around the community or played football and other games under trees.

In separate interviews, some pupils said their teachers had instructed them to stay at home until the strike was called off.

“Our teachers told us to stay at home until we hear that the strike has been called off. That is why some of us are doing this,” a Primary Six pupil said.

The pupils expressed disappointment over the industrial action, saying the prolonged absence from school was affecting their education.

“We are not happy with the teachers’ strike because it is having a negative impact on our education. We have been at home for many days doing nothing,” another pupil said.

The situation is particularly worrying for final-year pupils preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), some of whom said their mock examinations were approaching without adequate revision.

“We are not happy with the teachers’ strike because it has affected our education. Our mock exam is drawing near, and the teachers are on strike. We don’t know what will happen to us,” a BECE candidate, Shadrack Amuzu, said.

Parents worried about children’s welfare

Parents in the community have also expressed frustration over the disruption, with some taking their children to farms to help with their work while others remain at home without supervision.

Madam Yaa Nsia, a mother of three pupils at the school, said the situation had become unbearable.

According to her, the strike had forced some parents to rely on their children for farm work, while others were left roaming around the community.

“The strike has forced us to send our children to the farm. Some of the children are just roaming around without going to school because of the strike. This is not good for their future,” she said.

She warned that the prolonged disruption could expose children to social vices, teenage pregnancy and child labour.

The affected pupils and their parents have appealed to the government and teacher unions to resolve the impasse urgently to allow academic activities to resume.

They urged the government to address teachers’ concerns about their conditions of service to facilitate their return to the classroom.

“We are begging the government to listen to our teachers and resolve the issue for them to call off the strike. We want to go back to school,” the pupils appealed.

Background to the strike

Teachers across the country began a nationwide strike over what they describe as the government’s failure to address concerns about their conditions of service, including deprived-area allowances, promotion issues and other welfare matters.

The industrial action has disrupted teaching and learning in basic schools, while some senior high schools have also recorded low attendance as parents keep their children at home.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education have held meetings with the teacher unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), but a breakthrough has yet to be achieved.

Residents of Old Edubiase are calling for urgent intervention by the Adansi North District Directorate of Education, traditional authorities and the government to ensure pupils return to the classroom before the disruption causes further damage to the academic calendar.