13,000 teachers have been cleared for payment in the ongoing validation process for their salaries and allowances which have been in arrears.

The various teacher unions threatened to withdraw their services should government fail to pay the arrears, and this led to government setting up a validation process, via the Audit Department and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, to vet the claims of the affected teachers.

This validation also followed claims that a number of teachers in the country employed by the Ghana Education Service (GES) presented fake certificates.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), David Ofori Acheampong, hinted that more teachers are likely to be cleared for payment in the coming days.

He however noted that the team conducting the validation has taken a break for a week for a dialogue with the Minister of Finance and the Fair Wages ans Salaries Commission to develop a schedule of payment for the teachers who have been cleared.

“There have been some 13,000 plus who have been passed for payment and we have to develop a schedule of payment and communicate to our members.” Mr. Acheampong however expressed hope that the process will run faster give more cooperation between them and the Ghana Education Service (GES).

“Moving forward, I think it’s going to move faster now because some of the issues we raised from the initial stages as to which documents they should refer to, they [GES] have now come to accept them… from now onward, we will fast track it. I am praying that we will bring this matter to a close as soon as possible.”