Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has unveiled a proposal for an interoperable digital system that would link the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Controller and Accountant‑General’s Department (CAGD) to fast‑track the processing of teacher promotions and payroll placement.
The recommendation was issued in a statement released as pre‑tertiary teacher unions continue their nationwide strike, positioning the move as part of a broader effort to address systemic weaknesses in teacher human‑resource and payroll management.
Under the proposed system, promotion records that have been approved and validated by GES would be transmitted electronically and securely to CAGD, eliminating the need for physical document movement. Eduwatch argues that this would help resolve the frequent delays that keep promoted teachers off their appropriate salary scales, a lag that often leads to salary arrears.
The think‑tank points out that CAGD’s continued reliance on paper‑based processing creates avoidable administrative delays, especially given Ghana’s teaching workforce of roughly 400,000 staff. It wants every approved promotion to automatically trigger payroll placement within a clearly defined service standard.
“Approval of a promotion should not mark the beginning of another lengthy administrative process. Delays between promotion approval and payroll placement defer remuneration legitimately due to teachers and subsequently create arrears and additional administrative cost,” Eduwatch said.
Eduwatch also suggested a digital platform that would allow teachers to track the status of their promotion and payroll placement. The organisation believes that digitising the process would reduce administrative backlogs, improve efficiency and ensure that teachers receive the financial benefits attached to their promotions without unnecessary delays.
The proposal is part of broader reforms Eduwatch says are needed to prevent recurring disputes over teacher promotions, payroll placement, arrears and other employment‑related matters from disrupting teaching and learning.
