Haruna Iddrisu is the Minister of Education

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has refuted claims that one of the newly trained teachers from the 2022 batch of Colleges of Education died during a recent picketing at the Ghana Education Service (GES) headquarters in Accra.

Addressing Parliament on Thursday, June 26, 2025, Haruna Iddrisu described as “despicable lies” the claim by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin that on June 23, picketing at the GES headquarters led to the death of one of the teachers.

“Mr Speaker, these are despicable lies that someone died. I challenge him to produce any dead body that he may have in his possession or in possession of any person. Nothing of that sort happened. There was no injury, no harm,” the minister stressed.

The minister also disclosed that he engaged with leadership of the group to better understand their grievances.

"I met with the president of the petitioners by name Eric Darfoor and he shared their concerns. Despite having received appointment letters and fulfilling all professional administrative obligations, including assuming our respective posts and performing our duties diligently, a significant number of us have still not been issued staff identification numbers. Their main concerns will be addressed as soon as the Minister of Finance issues financial clearance," he noted.

On Monday, June 23, 2025, teachers from the 2022 batch of Colleges of Education picketed at the GES headquarters demanding the immediate release of their staff identification numbers and payment of several months' salary arrears.

According to the teachers, they had earlier submitted a formal petition but were met with silence after waiting at the premises for over two hours.

Police later intervened, issuing a three-minute ultimatum for the group to disperse. When the teachers refused, they were forcibly removed.

Despite the confrontation, the teachers have suspended their protest following assurances from GES that their concerns are being addressed.

The group’ spokesperson confirmed that a GES Public Relations officer had communicated a commitment to resolve the issues, with salary payments expected by the end of July.

JKB/VPO

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