The leadership of the three major pre-tertiary teacher unions in the Western Region has reaffirmed its commitment to the ongoing strike, directing members to remain away from work until further notice.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers’ Association of Ghana (PRETAG) say the government has failed to resolve several outstanding concerns affecting teachers.

The unions cite delays in negotiations for a new collective agreement, failure to automatically place newly promoted teachers on their appropriate salary scales, and the non-implementation of the deprived area allowance among the issues behind the industrial action.

The existing Collective Agreement has expired, while negotiations for a new agreement, which the unions expected to have been completed by June 2026, are yet to be concluded.

The teacher unions are also demanding the implementation of an agreement providing for the automatic placement of teachers who successfully passed the December 2025 and February 2026 promotion examinations on their respective salary scales.

They say the placement should have been backdated to January 2026.

On the Deprived Area Allowance, the unions say the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service were required to review the Deprived Area Report before implementation.

According to them, that process has not been completed, despite concerns raised with the relevant authorities.

The unions say the delays and what they describe as unfulfilled commitments have heightened frustration among teachers and necessitated the continuation of the strike.

But while the unions maintain that the strike remains in force, some teachers have reported to school and continued teaching.

This has drawn a strong reaction from teachers who are observing the industrial action.

One teacher told JoyNews that colleagues who have chosen to remain in the classroom risk undermining the collective effort to secure better conditions for teachers.

“We are now sending a word of caution to them. We don’t want to be chasing people around, but those teachers should know better that the job that we are doing is our future. So if we are not able to come together to fight for a common goal, then what are we after?”

The teacher further cautioned the affected colleagues to stop teaching before the unions are forced to take further action.

“We are cautioning them to stop teaching before we think of a Plan B for them.”

The unions have directed their members to remain away from work and stay resolute until further notice.

For now, the standoff between the teacher unions and government continues, with teachers divided over the extent to which the industrial action should be observed.