President John Mahama has assured teachers that his government will review the Single Spine Pay Policy and address concerns over the three-tier pension scheme.

This comes as calls grow for improved salaries, better funding, and safer working environments.

The assurances were given at the 54th National Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) held at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

Speaking at the conference, Reverend Isaac Owusu, President of GNAT, emphasised the need for urgent reforms to safeguard teachers’ welfare.

“To celebrate these achievements, Your Excellency, we must not shy away from confronting the present challenges that continue to hinder our progress. The dedication of our teachers is unparalleled, yet they remain the backbone of the system and often underappreciated and overburdened,” Rev Owusu said.

He added, “We face an ongoing crisis regarding the condition of service, where many teachers struggle with inadequate salaries that do not reflect their hard work and dedication. It is incumbent upon us to address these issues head-on.”

Reverend Owusu outlined four critical areas for immediate action.

1. Review of the Single Spine Pay Policy

2. Adequate funding for basic education

3. Pension reform

4. Teacher safety and assaults

Reverend Owusu also declared zero tolerance for assaults on teachers, warning that schools may be shut down if attacks continue:

“We are declaring that this year, 2026, we are declaring a zero tolerance for teacher assault and brutality. Should any individual or group attack any teacher in Ghana without cause, we shall invoke the spirit and solidarity of ‘touch one, touch all.’ If we have to close down schools, we will close down schools.”

Addressing the concerns raised, President Mahama acknowledged the challenges with the current Single Spine Pay Policy, describing it as “very crooked” and promising a thorough review:

“Everybody is unhappy with the spine, and so of course TUC raised it with us and asked if we could look at the whole salary structure again. We’re very willing to do that so that we are able to remunerate people better so that they can give off their best in terms of what we are supposed to do.”

On pensions, the president pledged to assemble a working team to review and improve the system, ensuring workers feel secure as they approach retirement.

He described assaults on teachers as unacceptable and assured GNAT that, “As for assault on teachers, I am with you one hundred percent. We will deal with it.”