-President Ali assures teachers, says salary increase is guaranteed

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has reaffirmed that the Government of Guyana is progressively working to address the adjustment of salary scales for teachers, which he said will come at an appropriate time.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the President said that they “are looking at salaries in a holistic way and in a phased manner.” He added that his government will never walk away from the commitment it has made to teachers.

In December, he announced that several categories of public servants will get salary increases.

The salary scale of health workers has been increased, resulting in over 5,000 persons benefitting from a disposable income of over $1.5 billion annually. Additionally, ranks of the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Defence Force have benefitted from a $1 billion annualised increase to their salaries.

“…the categories (of public servants)…will be made at the appropriate time. One thing you can rely on in this government is that we never ever walk away from our commitment,” he said.

According to the President, the government is working to address several anomalies with wages in the public sector.

“Everything is done in a very holistic way. We have to understand the functionalities of the economy and every category of workers will be addressed,” he said adding: “We are starting from critical areas where there are great anomalies. That is how we have started and we are progressing well.”

Meanwhile, Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday, during a live interview on social media, upbraided the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, who had said that $94 billion was allocated in the 2023 budget but there were “no wages and salaries announcements” for the teachers.

“… We budgeted for wages and salaries in 2023… it is just that the announcement will not be made now, it’s done towards the end of the year,” Jagdeo said.