Ghana will require a minimum of GHS6 billion to hire all 74,000 unemployed health professionals awaiting recruitment into the public sector, as announced by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, October 15, the Minister indicated that, “We will need not less than GHS6 billion to be able to absorb all the 74,000 health professionals at home at the moment.”

In recent times, Ghana has witnessed several protests from government employees, particularly teachers, nurses, and doctors. According to him, the former government handed over a poorly planned budget that made no provision for the payment of nurses, teachers, and doctors.

The Minister disclosed that the then Akufo-Addo government recruited over 13,000 newly trained nurses and midwives onto the government payroll without any budgetary allocation.

He made this revelation while clarifying the challenges his ministry is facing in settling debts owed to government workers, particularly those in the health sector.

“The reality is that in 2024, the government started to recruit nurses and midwives. So the summary is that they recruited about 13,500 nurses and midwives and issued clearance,” he said.

“Once you issue clearance, you must make financial provision. Clearance is not just a paper… you issue clearance when indeed you can pay when you recruit the people.”

The Minister explained that the clearances of 13,500 nurses and midwives had expired by December 2024, despite their commencement of work in August of the same year. However, none of them were added to the government payroll during that period.

“The clearance expired on 31st December 2024. What it means is that before the expiration… you must necessarily have all these 13,500 people on the payroll. As at the end of 31st December 2024, not a single one of the 13,500 people were on the payroll,” he said.

“When we came, there were two options available because there was no allocation for these nurses and midwives. One — let them go home and look for the funding and extend the clearance and then they come and work. Two — you can allow them to work while you look at how you will pay them, because that was not captured as part of our budget,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Education Minister has announced that government will absorb 6,200 teachers into the education system and settle all arrears owed them.

This announcement comes after a group of concerned and aggrieved teachers who have worked for months without salary petitioned the office of the Education Minister.

Addressing the petition, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, during a pre-event briefing and regional stakeholder meeting on October 13 ahead of the ADEA Triennale 2025 launch later this month, revealed that the government has earmarked about one million cedis for the payment of teachers’ salaries.

He also urged them to give their best to promote academic excellence across the country’s educational institutions.

“A few weeks ago, my Chief Director and I received a petition from some teachers who were unhappy with the government over their delayed salaries. They have worked for several months without pay. I’m happy to announce that the Cabinet has given approval for the 6,200 teachers to be absorbed, and the process will begin in due course.

"They will receive their staff IDs, and as I assured them, they will also get their back pay. But having demonstrated goodwill by doing this, we expect something in return — that they remain committed and dedicated to academic work,” the Minister highlighted.

According to him, the government has approved one million dollars to absorb the teachers and a category of health workers.

“So, those 6,200 teachers — I think I can speak for both ministries in this matter — the Cabinet has given the Minister of Finance approval to vary the budget and spend about GH₵1.1 billion to absorb a category of health workers and teachers,” the Minister noted.

The Tamale South Constituency MP also revealed steps the government is taking to address the challenges associated with the school placement system.

Three hundred and ninety-three thousand (393,000) candidates passed their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2025, making them eligible to enter Senior High School as required by the country’s education system.

Due to the long-standing prestige attached to fewer than 100 top-tier Category A and B schools, the 76,000 vacancies available in these institutions cannot accommodate the large number of students who prefer them, creating intense pressure on the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

Consequently, Haruna Iddrisu announced plans to promote fairness and improve access for all qualified candidates starting in 2026 by re-categorizing some second-cycle schools. This move has received the President’s approval.

“When it comes to Category A, B, and C schools, every parent understandably wants their child in a Category A school. But in the past month, we haven’t expanded infrastructure in any Category A school to make that possible. My thinking, to ensure equity, is that from 2026 onwards, after consultations and discussions with the President, and with his support and blessing, we will convert at least 10 Category C schools to Category B schools, and 10 Category B schools to Category A schools,” the Minister said.The re-categorisation will, however, be backed by improved infrastructure facilities in the respective schools to promote a conducive academic environment.“This will be backed by infrastructure improvements, additional classroom blocks, dormitories for students, and quality enhancements through better teaching and learning materials and aids,” Mr. Haruna continued.The Education Ministry has also announced a transition from prepaid to postpaid meters across all government senior high schools nationwide.This was announced by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu during a speech at the 63rd Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in Sunyani, held on Wednesday, October 8.The move follows complaints from headteachers over the unreliability of prepaid meters and the frequent power disruptions that negatively affect academic work.Ahead of the Minister’s announcement, CHASS National President, Alhaji Yakub A. B. Abubakar, highlighted some of the challenges faced by these headteachers, citing electricity supply interruptions caused by prepaid meters.In response, the Minister said, “….And I’m happy to announce that, first January 2026, all CHASS schools will be on post-paid meters. My colleague Hon. Jinapor asked me to convey to you that it is possible and that all CHASS schools will be moved to postpaid so that you will not continue to endure the embarrassment of lights being off,” the Minister disclosed.

Over the years, government-assisted Senior High Schools (SHS) have complained about interruptions in power supply due to the use of prepaid meters. Prepaid electricity meters operate on a “pay-as-you-go” system, where users purchase power in advance and consume only what they have paid for.

Consequently, schools had to buy electricity upfront and later seek reimbursement from the Ministry of Education, creating cash flow challenges, especially when government funds were delayed.

Headmasters emphasized that power interruptions affected students’ ability to study, particularly during examination preparation periods.Schools like Mawuli SHS and PRESEC-Legon reported frequent blackouts when prepaid units ran out, disrupting evening studies and essential services. Mawuli SHS noted that “each time the units run out, we’re plunged into darkness,” which directly undermines academic performance.

The Minister also disclosed that the Education Ministry has cleared the outstanding arrears owed to Primetime Limited, organizers of the National Science and Mathematics Quiz (NSMQ), from 2023 to date.

The Ministry confirmed the disbursement in a statement released on Wednesday, October 8, signed by its Press Secretary, Hashim Haruna.The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to promoting science and mathematics education through consistent financial support and broader participation.

“The Ministry of Education has released an amount of GH¢9.5 million to Primetime Company to clear all the arrears owed to the organizers of the National Science and Mathematics Quiz competition,” the statement read.

The Ministry also announced that the competition will now include more schools. “The number of schools in the competition has now been expanded to 177, up from 124 this year,” the statement added.The organizers of NSMQ released the timetable for the competition on October 1, which included the launch and balloting set for October 7, as well as the preliminaries slated for October 13 to 17.

Two days later, the one-eighth stage will kick off from October 19 to 21, followed by the quarter-finals from October 23 to 25. The semi-finals will take place on October 27, and the grand finale, where the champions will be announced, is scheduled three days later.

However, CHASS initially announced its intention to boycott this year's competition, citing financial constraints. In a statement dated October 3 and signed by CHASS National Secretary, Baro Primus, the organization informed the quiz organizers that Ghanaian senior high schools would not participate in the balloting or subsequent stages of the 2025 NSMQ.