President Dr. Irfaan Ali has announced plans to consult directly with teachers regarding the comprehensive remuneration package which his government plans to introduce for them.
Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday, the Head of State said while he will be engaging with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), he also prefers to speak directly with the country’s educators.
“I would have extensive consultations with teachers across the country,” he disclosed.
“I love people, I feel at a loss when people are not around me, that is why you’ll see me with people all the time, that is my happiest moment. So, as I return from the EU-CELAC Leadership Conference and my State visit to China, you will see me in every region with our beautiful teachers, talking to our teachers, and hearing from them because what I want to do is create an enabling environment in which every teacher will grow…so I will be consulting not only with the Union, I will be consulting with the teachers themselves.”
President Ali has already promised to roll out a “comprehensive” remuneration package for teachers, saying in May 2023 that this scheme will not just focus on salary.
Then in June 2023, the Head of State announced plans to implement a standard minimum salary to eliminate the disparity among teachers.
“[The Cabinet] is considering now, looking from when we came into office from 2020 to now, to ensure that within this period, all of our teachers are on a standard minimum basic wage to avoid the disparity that exists and we’re going to correct that from 2020 to now as we’re in office,” Ali had said.
He had further announced that the Government would be approaching the National Assembly for the approval of $11 billion to rehabilitate, retrofit and maintain teachers’ quarters, especially those in the hinterland, to bring them to the “minimum standard”.
President Ali had also signalled plans to continue training teachers in specialised fields, thus making educational opportunities more accessible to them. It was reported that the system that prohibited some teachers from getting time off to train has been removed, giving educators the opportunity to further their education in a format of their choice.
Last year, President Ali announced that government will introduce clerical support for teachers to remove the burden on record-keeping and give them more time in the classrooms. He had also announced that the government will be establishing daycare centres across the country to provide much-needed support to teachers and young mothers.
When it comes to the situation of trainee teachers receiving a stipend of $11,000, President Ali had said that this would be revamped into a system where they were now placed on the payroll and given a salary of $80,000 – something which will benefit more than 1300 teachers.
