A significant protest unfolded on Monday, June 23, 2025, when a contingent of Ghana Police Service officers was dispatched to the premises of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to disperse a group of aggrieved teachers. These educators, comprised of recently posted teachers from the 2022 batch of College of Education graduates, had converged at the GES headquarters to demand the long-overdue issuance of staff IDs and the payment of ten months of outstanding salaries since their appointment on August 1, 2024.

Upon arrival, police officers initiated action, with their team leader confronting the demonstrators and issuing a three-minute ultimatum to vacate the premises, while suggesting their representatives could engage with the Minister of Education. However, the teachers, agitated and frustrated by the prolonged delay, defied the police order. This defiance led the police commander to issue a stern warning, emphasizing the need for compliance: "Not all of you can be leaders, so leave the premises. We are giving you only three minutes to leave. We gave you respect, but you did not honour that respect—so move." Amidst chants of "move, move" from the officers, the police eventually succeeded in forcefully driving out all the protesting teachers.

The 784 affected teachers claimed that despite numerous follow-ups and assurances from GES officials, they had received no pay. Solomon Opoku Gyan, a member of the group, articulated the direness of their situation, highlighting a distressing lack of transparency and severe financial hardship. He lamented, “We’ve worked for 10 months now without pay. We don’t even have staff IDs. Every time we visit GES, they offer excuses. It’s too much—we’re suffering.” Gyan further alleged that the prolonged financial strain had led to devastating consequences, including reported deaths among members due to the hardship. The teachers are urgently calling for the GES to act immediately to resolve the delay and regularize their employment status.

Adding to the intensity of the protest, a newly trained teacher from the 2022 batch, identifying as being from the Northern Region, publicly criticized a police officer for allegedly threatening physical assault against the teachers. This teacher, who has also been working for ten months without pay, expressed profound frustration over the severe impact on his livelihood, citing mounting debts and daily living expenses. In a widely circulated video interview, he accused a police officer of threatening to beat them if they crossed a designated "red line" during their peaceful picketing. The teacher expressed outrage at what he perceived as disrespect from an officer he described as having only a Senior High School (SHS) level of education, juxtaposing it with his own university education and ten months of unpaid labor. "Ten months without salary, do you think you’re the one to teach me what to say? I am from the Northern Region. I didn’t travel all the way to Accra just to make noise. I came because my employer hasn’t paid me, and I’m rightfully complaining. Then you bring in a police officer who claims he will beat us. He said if we cross the red line, he will beat us," he recounted. He further challenged the officer, stating, "I have gone to university and worked for ten months without pay. I am here to speak up, and you are threatening me? He didn’t speak well. If he thinks he is tough, he should take off the uniform and see what happens. I only respect the uniform.”

The teacher underscored the severe financial struggles faced by many of his colleagues: “We pay rent, we eat, we owe, and creditors keep calling us to settle our debts. We are simply here to tell our employer our grievances, and instead, you call in the police to threaten us. You an SHS-level police officer threatening a university graduate who hasn’t been paid for ten months. If you, as a police officer, go two months without pay, you will form an association and storm this place.” The aggrieved teachers confirmed they had submitted a formal letter outlining their concerns and had waited for over two hours at the GES premises without any official response or engagement. Undeterred by the police intervention, the protesters have vowed to escalate their actions, planning to present a petition to the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, before marching to Parliament to press their demands. The group maintains its resolve not to back down until the government addresses their concerns.