CETAG Threatens Nationwide Strike Over Unpaid Allowances and Gov’ts Failure to Honour NLC Arbitral Award
The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has issued a nationwide strike threat, setting a deadline for the government to fully implement the Arbitral Award issued by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on May 2, 2023. The ultimatum came in a public statement dated October 27 2025, in which CETAG lamented the continued failure of state authorities to meet binding commitments.
The association engaged in multiple rounds of discussions with the government and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) over outstanding allowances, including arrears on the 2023/2024 Book and Research Allowance and the 2022/2023 top-ups following the migration of colleges into the university salary structure. Despite assurances given in April 2025, CETAG claims the payments remain unsettled.
In its statement, CETAG described the prolonged delay as a breach of trust and disrespect for labour law, emphasising that the NLC arbitral decision is binding on the government and must not be ignored. The association day-marked November 7 2025 as the day it would declare and commence a nationwide strike across all 46 public colleges of education if the obligations are not fulfilled by then.
The details of the unresolved concerns include unity matters such as the all-year-round work compensation owed to tutors in 39 colleges, unresolved downgrading of experienced staff, and prohibited arrears tied to past years of book and research allowances. These conditions have reportedly caused declining morale among teacher educators and threaten the smooth running of the 2025/2026 academic year.
CETAG notes that the government has repeatedly made promises yet failed to meet key payment deadlines or engage in meaningful implementation. The association is warning that failure to act promptly could result not only in strike action but serious disruption to colleges of education, with the risk of spill-over effects into broader tertiary and educational sectors.
In reaction, stakeholders within the education sector have expressed concern that a strike by teacher-educators could jeopardise the training pipeline for future teachers, worsen staff shortages, and delay syllable progression for student-teachers preparing for service. Education analysts say the timing is particularly sensitive given the migration of colleges onto the tertiary salary structure and the broader human resources transformation underway in Ghana’s teacher training system.
For the government, the challenge lies in balancing fiscal constraints with the need to honour legally binding awards, especially in the context of public sector wage pressures and a tight budgetary space. Observers suggest that non-compliance with the NLC award could undermine labour relations, attract legal sanctions or arbitration costs, and reduce trust between government and teaching unions.
CETAG’s threat also resonates against a backdrop of other tertiary education unions such as the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) that have in previous years raised similar grievances over book and research allowances and migration into senior salary structures. The collective pressure underlines growing frustration within Ghana’s tertiary education workforce.
CETAG has therefore called on the government to act swiftly to safeguard teacher-education delivery, prevent disruption to the academic cycle and ensure that teacher trainers feel valued and fairly rewarded for their service. The association said it remains open to constructive engagement but will proceed with industrial action if its core demands are not met.
As November 7 draws near, the onus now lies with government officials to either meet the demands of CETAG or manage the consequences of a nationwide strike that could ripple across the broader education sector.
