The Government of Ghana has authorized the payment of GHC1.1 billion to settle wages owed to over 6,200 nurses and teachers who protested at the Health and Education Ministries for months of arrears in allowances.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu disclosed this in a speech at a news conference held in Accra on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 that Cabinet has authorized the affected teachers — and some health workers — to be officially added onto the government payroll.
Some weeks ago, the Chief Director and I were petitioned by some of the teachers over their unjustified salary for certain months without compensation," said the Minister.
"I am glad to confirm that Cabinet has agreed that 6,200 teachers are to be included in the process in due course. As I promised them, they are going to get their back pay," he added.
He continued to explain that the approval reaches both the teachers and the health workers, underlining the government's resolve to stop further industrial action.
"Cabinet authorized spending around 1.1 billion cedis to absorb a batch of teachers and health workers. The exercise will kick off shortly," he declared. "I think this will discourage teachers and health professionals from picketing at the various ministries."
School Placement Scandal: More Arrests, Tighter Controls
Referring to the Computerized School Placement System (CSSPS), Haruna Iddrisu reiterates his promise to address the long-standing problems and alleged corruption that bedevil the system.
"We are making the most of it. Category A, Category B, Category C — rightly, everybody wants his own child to attend a Category A school.".
"In the past few years, we have not increased infrastructure. I have the President's approval to ensure that the budget is raised to increase infrastructure in Category A schools so that more children can be accommodated," he said.
The Minister was keen to point out that more than three individuals have already been arrested in connection with alleged bribery and tampering of the school placement system.
"Even well over three," he revealed. "We have further enhanced our cybersecurity mechanisms, which allow us to monitor and police what is attached to the placement.
"A few weeks ago, we received National Security to arrest three people. We will allow the law to take its course with whoever is found guilty," the Minister stated.
To restrict access and accountability, the Ministry has restricted access to the CSSPS portal, including that of top administrators.
As it is now, we have limited access to the portal as part of managing it. Me being here — I don't have access to the portal. My deputy doesn't have access either. In that sense, we can hold the person with access to account fully. That is the way we are approaching it," he added.
The Ministry confirms that it remains committed to ensuring transparency and integrity in the school allocation process and will continue collaborating with national security to ensure eradication of corruption.