A wave of frustration has swept across the 2023 batch of graduates from Ghana’s public colleges of education, as they prepare to stage a peaceful picketing exercise at the Ministry of Education on August 1, 2025.
The reason for this planned demonstration is clear: they are demanding the immediate release of their financial clearance and postings from the Ministry
According to representatives from the affected cohort, these graduates have fulfilled all the required benchmarks expected of them.
They have successfully completed their training, undergone National Service, passed the Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE), and remain unposted nearly two years after graduation.
What stings even more, they say, is the lack of transparency and urgency from government authorities—particularly the silence from Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who failed to address recruitment (employment) during the reading of the Midyear Budget Statement.
“It’s disheartening. We’ve met all conditions, invested years of effort, and yet, we are jobless while our classrooms go under-supported,” said one member of the concerned group in an interview with Coleman Publications.
In their call to action, these graduates have announced plans not only to picket but also to present a formal petition to the Minister of Education, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, citing his earlier promise made during a parliamentary session on June 25, 2025, where he declared the government’s intention to recruit 50,000 teachers and 10,000 non-teaching staff into the Ghana Education Service for the 2025 calendar year.
That commitment was further reinforced by Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, Director-General of GES, during an interaction with the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG).
Professor Davis confirmed that GES had submitted the necessary staffing and recruitment details to both the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
Parliament has already approved the proposal—but the final nod from the Finance Ministry is still pending.
So, what’s the hold-up? Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews on July 24, 2025, Finance Minister Dr. Forson revealed that a nationwide payroll audit had uncovered troubling irregularities: over 14,000 unverifiable workers and 53,307 separated staff still appearing on payroll.
The Minister insists that recruitment cannot proceed until the Auditor-General completes this payroll audit—a prerequisite for issuing financial clearance to GES.
“Once the Auditor-General is done with the audit, the necessary clearances will be given for recruitment to begin,” Dr. Forson stated.
Meanwhile, the country’s wage bill has spiralled out of control. Wages and salaries for the first half of 2025 have exceeded budgetary projections by GH¢1.3 billion, due in large part to uncoordinated recruitments made in the final quarter of 2024 by the previous administration.
This pressure, compounded by distortion in the Single Spine Pay Policy, has further delayed recruitment plans.
In response to these challenges, the Minister noted that the government has rolled out reform measures aimed at stabilising payroll management:
- Nationwide audits to sanitize the system.
- Realignment of staff from overstaffed or defunct agencies to areas of need.
- Establishment of the Independent Emoluments Commission (IEC) to guide sustainable pay reforms.
- Executive directive requiring MDAs to obtain MoF approval before making payroll commitments.
Despite these efforts, the prolonged silence and lack of timelines continue to fuel disappointment among the 2023 graduates, many of whom feel neglected by the very system they trained to uphold.
According to them, the August 1 picketing will be a calm yet assertive appeal to the Minister of Education.
Coleman Publications will be following the protest closely and will provide real-time updates as events unfold.
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