The validation process being undertaken by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) in collaboration with the Audit Service, the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department for workers within the Ghana Education Service is now expected to end on April 15, one month later than the originally scheduled date.

Teachers as well as education workers had been asked to submit particulars for validation by March 15 for the process, which will ensure that their salary arrears are paid.

“The off-site team, working on the validation, has so far received application forms in excess of 60,000 and wishes to assure all the affected teachers and other workers within the Ghana Education Service that the forms are being worked on,” a statement jointly issued by the teacher unions on Tuesday, March 15 said.

But applicants as well as district and regional directors of education have been given up to Friday, March 18 “to forward the rest of the data (if any) to Ghana Education Service headquarters for onward submission to the validation team for validation and subsequent payment”.

Those whose forms were queried have also been asked to “urgently respond to the queries to enable the validating team validate their document(s) for prompt payment of the salary arrears”.

Leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT-G) have expressed optimism in the exercise.