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as President Ali tackles issues head on
PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali assured teachers that his administration will address the human resource shortage in Hinterland schools and other issues affecting learning.
Acknowledging the importance of teachers in society and their well-being, the President, on Monday, had a consultation with headteachers and their deputies from the country’s 11 school districts at State House.
During this meeting, teachers from hinterland schools raised several issues, particularly surrounding a shortage of teachers.
The President advised the gathering that the Minister of Education informed him that 2300 teachers will graduate in November and the actual shortages will be addressed.
Monday’s consultation was held in keeping with Dr. Ali’s promise to meet with educators to address a number of issues within the sector.
Teachers from both the hinterland and coastland regions raised a plethora of issues, among them salary and allowance adjustments for teachers, better school infrastructure, the need for more qualified teachers, improved Internet access, better transportation for children, especially those living in the hinterland region, implementation of more innovative programmes, and overcrowding in several schools.
In response, the President said: “We are going to complete the infrastructure audit of all the schools and all the education facilities, including the recreation facilities across the country, so we will have a gap analysis as to what has to be done, and prioritise where we are going to definitely address those issues.”
Regarding overcrowding, specifically, the president noted that the government will prioritise the extension of schools affected by overcrowding in the upcoming budget cycle.
Existing anomalies affecting minimum-wage teachers will be corrected in their salaries this month.
In the coming weeks, the government will develop a holistic approach to address all the needs of the country’s teachers.
“Now that I have a full understanding directly from you,” President Ali said, “I am in a better position to come up with a holistic approach as to how we will deal with the welfare of students and teachers together.”
Executive representatives from the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and other government officials such as Education Minister Priya Manikchand, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, and the country’s Labour Minister were in attendance.
In June, the President announced that more funds will be injected into the education sector to enhance more institutions and make room for more advancements in this area.
“Outside of the massive investments that we are already making in new facilities and the rehabilitation of existing facilities, it is estimated that to bring all of the facilities throughout Guyana, in every single region, to minimum standards, retrofitting, maintenance, and renovation projects will be at a cost of 11 billion Guyana dollars for education alone.
“We considered this conditional survey and this assessment, and we have decided that, notwithstanding the tremendous resources that we already have in the budget this year, we are going to go for supplementary provisions so that we can start an acceleration of this 11 billion dollars investment,” Dr. Ali said.
The President also related that government had decided that it will separate the investment in a multi-year/multi-programme agenda for education, so that appropriate action can be taken.
