EDUCATION Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said improving teachers’ pay is a high priority amid calls from the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) for a 25 per cent increase in their new multi-year agreement with the Ministry of Education.Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Dr Roopnaraine said the Ministry of Education will have to sit with the GTU to work things out, declining to say definitively if the government will honour the proposal by the teachers’ union.

Annually, as outlined in the current agreement, teachers receive a five per cent salary increase.
GTU President Mark Lyte on countless occasions has asserted that the current salaries for teachers are not sufficient, and has been advocating an increase since assuming office.
Lyte pointed out that the salaries, as they stand presently, have contributed to the shortage of male teachers in the school system.
“There are more female teachers than male teachers. This is mainly because of the insufficient remuneration that is being offered to teachers.
“It would not attract males because they are the breadwinners at home. So I think this is what has contributed to the shortage of male teachers in schools,” said Lyte.
Against this backdrop, he said that the new proposal is opting for a 25% increase in salaries for teachers, which will ideally attract more males into the profession.
But while this sounds good, Dr Roopnaraine was quite content on waiting for the negotiations to begin.
“I said it before and I will say it again. We have been undervaluing our teachers, underpaying our teachers and this is something we have to address. Getting teachers better pay is a high priority,” he told this publication.
Meanwhile, the GTU’s proposal will be handed over to the Education Ministry soon, given that the current agreement will end in December.
The agreement also sought to address an anomaly that has been existing for years: teachers who have been in the system for years receiving the same salary as that of a teacher of the same status, who has recently joined the profession.
While the attention is on increasing salaries for teachers, Minister Roopnaraine was not oblivious to the fact that many teachers in the school system do not perform as they should.
“We have not been doing enough to hold negligent teachers to book. I will admit that at once. I don’t think that we have been robust in getting teachers to deliver the curriculum and performing. This is something we will have to sit and discuss with the union and other stakeholders,” he said.
And on that note, he said that the ministry is willing to consider licensing teachers as part of a wide effort to ensure they undergo continuous professional development.

By Tajeram Mohabir