Education Minister directs GTEC to get public universities to announce reopening dates

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has directed the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to ask public universities to announce their reopening dates towards the weekend as the government works to resolve the ongoing strike by the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

Mr Iddrisu expressed hope that the association would suspend the strike in the coming days, allowing academic activities to resume across public universities.

He made the remarks on Monday, October 12, 2026, after meeting with leaders of GAUA, the Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) and GTEC.

The strike has disrupted administrative services at public universities, prompting the University of Ghana (UG) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to postpone their planned reopening dates.

Government seeks to protect academic calendar

Mr Iddrisu said the government wanted universities to reopen before the end of the week so academic work could resume on Monday.

“It is my expectation that the universities can reopen towards the weekend and not later than the weekend so that academic work can begin on Monday,” he said, adding that the government wanted to avoid losing the academic calendar because of the strike.

He described the current academic calendar as the best the country had experienced in five years and said the government would make efforts to protect it.

However, the proposed timeline depends on the outcome of consultations between the associations and their members. No decision to suspend the strike had been announced after Monday’s meeting.

The minister clarified that his role was to facilitate discussions on behalf of the government, rather than negotiate salaries directly.

He acknowledged that disagreements could occur between the government and workers, despite the government being the employer of GAUA and TUSAAG members.

Mr Iddrisu also appealed to GAUA’s leadership to consider the effect of the strike on students and work towards ending the industrial action. He said the associations would consult their members before communicating their final decisions.

Dispute over market premium

The GAUA strike began on August 10, 2026. It was briefly suspended before being reactivated on September 15.

The dispute centres on differences in the Interim Market Premium (IMP) paid to senior staff in teaching and non-teaching positions.

GAUA argues that a 2012 Compulsory Arbitration Award established parity at 114 per cent of basic salary. The association maintains that while the market premium for members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has increased, that of GAUA members has remained unchanged.

The industrial action has affected administrative services, including admissions, student registration and accommodation allocation, disrupting preparations for the new academic year.

On Sunday, October 11, the Ministry of Education announced that it had invited GAUA and GTEC to an urgent meeting to find an amicable resolution to the dispute.

Attention is now on GAUA’s consultations with its members and whether the association will agree to suspend the strike.

Until an official decision is announced, the reopening dates of affected public universities and the full resumption of academic and administrative activities remain uncertain.