The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has explained the apparent discrepancy between the 80,000 teachers referenced in discussions over the ongoing payment crisis and the 58,000 figure reportedly being processed by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.

National President of GNAT, Prosper Tackie, said the difference stems from teachers at different ranks who were promoted and are affected by the payment issue.

“The truth is that we have teachers in higher ranks, which, I think, add up to 58,000, and then we have others in lower ranks who are also equally promoted,” he explained on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday.

According to him, the two categories together account for more than 80,000 teachers.

“So these two numbers add up together to get the over 80,000 teachers we are talking of,” he said.

Mr Tackie said the Controller and Accountant General’s Department may have prepared for only the 58,000 teachers without accounting for those in the lower ranks who were also promoted.

“It’s quite unfortunate that our Controller and Accountant General may have only prepared for the 58,000 by not taking into consideration the others in the lower ranks or the others on the lower rung,” he said.

The GNAT president stressed that promotions are particularly important to teachers nearing retirement because changes in their ranks affect their retirement benefits.

“Most of our teachers, especially those who are about to retire, whatever promotion they gain has a consequential effect on their retirement, and for that matter, we don’t joke with our promotions,” he said.

Mr Tackie also recounted the process teachers went through to complete their promotion examinations last year.

He said teachers were compelled to write the examinations in December after the government granted the necessary clearance, which was expected to expire at the close of the budget year.

“Last year, we were compelled to go and write the exams in December,” he said.

“The simple reason being that government had given a clearance. That is, the Minister of Finance, and if we did not write, I think the clearance was going to expire going into the new budget year.”

He said some teachers were subsequently captured in February and expected their results by March, but the process remained unresolved.

Mr Tackie said the issue was later raised when President John Mahama was invited to commission the PESCAN facility at the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre.

“When he came before, he raised the issue that our promotion was still pending, and that it has an effect on teachers who are about to retire,” he said.

He also questioned whether the focus should remain solely on the number of public-sector workers in education.

“Are we only interested in the numbers, or are we interested in the services we deliver?” he asked.