– after fruitful meeting with President
AFTER a long period of deliberation and much discrepancy between Government and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) over the multi-year incentive package for teachers, an amicable agreement has finally been reached much to the satisfaction of both parties.
GTU President Mr. Collin Bynoe led the union to a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Education Mr. Shaik Baksh at the Office of the President yesterday that ended with union members breathing a sigh of relief. Also included in the meeting was Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry Mr. Phulandar Kandhi.
Minister Baksh later told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the two sides brainstormed the many demands that were made to the existing agreement and by next week the consensus will be fine-tuned and concluded once and for all.
Asked for a comment, the GTU President spoke with optimism about the agreement reaching a conclusion.
“We made a giant step forward in this process after meeting the President and discussing this issue,” Bynoe said
The multi-year package was signed on October 11, 2006 and initially catered for a five percent per annum across-the-board increase for all categories of teachers and one percent of the wage bill as a performance-based increment per annum for eligible teachers.
Other aspects of the agreement included increased remuneration for teachers who have improved their qualifications, an annual clothing allowance of $6,000 per teacher, one-off duty free concessions for vehicles for 100 Head Teachers per year, a housing revolving fund of $40M per year, that is, $200M by 2010 to facilitate construction of houses for teachers and 25 Government-sponsored scholarships per year for teachers at the University of Guyana.