The government has approved the Book and Research Allowances for senior staff of public universities and colleges of education for the 2024/2025 academic year.

This decision comes after academic unions, including UTAG, TUTAG, and CETAG, expressed concerns over delays in the release of exchange rates and payment initiation.

According to an official letter from 3news.com on June 12, 2025, senior members of public tertiary institutions, including the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), qualify for the allowances.

Under the approved structure, each recipient will receive $1,500 for Book Allowance and $1,600 for Research Allowance.

These payments will be calculated using the Bank of Ghana’s average exchange rate of GH¢15.47 to $1.00, based on the period from September 2, 2024, to March 28, 2025.

To ensure transparency, the Ministry of Finance requires all claims to be audited and validated by the Internal Audit Units of the respective institutions before submission to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) for processing.

Institutions must submit two copies of audited claims for both academic and non-academic senior members using a standardised template.

The government's approval aims to support academic professionals and enhance research efforts in Ghana's higher education sector.

The academic unions had previously threatened a strike if the payment process did not commence by June 13, 2025.

They emphasised that this allowance is a statutory entitlement crucial for advancing research, teaching, and knowledge sharing.

VKB/VPO