–          In new multi-year agreement
–          Gov’t will continue to move towards pushing for a world-class education system
–          President Ali says

WITH the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union officially signing on to a multi-year agreement on Wednesday, President, Dr Irfaan Ali says that this new agreement sees massive increases in benefits and concessions for teachers and an advanced welfare package.
The Head of State made these remarks via a video statement following the agreement being inked between the two parties in which he said that he was pleased that an agreement was reached, which signals a way forward.
“From the inception, I made it very clear that as a people we needed to talk and we needed to sit around a table and resolve every issue. I’m therefore very pleased that the union, the President of the union and their team, the PS, CEO and their team at the Ministry of Education were able to successfully conclude an agreement that will cover the years, 2024, 2025 and 2026,” he said.

Against this backdrop, he said that the government remains committed to the revolution of the education sector, its modernisation and transformation.
Also in this commitment is the development of the teachers, the improvement of their conditions of services from the infrastructure perspective and their personal development perspective.
To this end, as a result of this agreement, over the next three years, teachers will see a direct increase of some 27 per cent to their salaries.
“In 2024 they will receive a 10 per cent increase, in 2025 they will see an eight per cent increase, and in 2026 they will see a nine per cent increase,” he disclosed.

These increases in these years are subject to an adjustable clause to which the President said if there are higher increases announced for the Public Service, teachers will get the difference between what is in the agreement and that higher number.
Further to this, President Ali also noted, “All non-graduate teachers, that is from TS 1A to TS 5B, irrespective of their status, will be paid two additional increments on their salary after three years of continuous service, these benefits can be enjoyed, will be enjoyed by over 9000 teachers; more than 60 per cent of teachers.”

Added to this, also in the agreement are increases in allowances for teachers holding various degrees. He indicated that the holders of doctoral degrees would receive $32,000 monthly, while holders of master degrees would receive $22,000 monthly.
Holders of post-graduate diplomas will receive $7,000 monthly, while holders of certificates in education and certificates in education management will both receive $5,000 monthly.
Allowances and Incentives

Continuing to break down the details of the agreement, President Ali disclosed that the station allowance for teachers would see an increase of 108 per cent. Headteachers for ‘A’ category schools will have an 11 per cent increase in station allowance, while head teachers of Category ‘B’ schools will receive a 23 per cent increase and those of Category ‘C’ schools will receive a 39 per cent increase.

Other teachers in Category ‘A’ schools will have a 108 per cent increase in this allowance, while other teachers in Category ‘B’ schools will have a 59 per cent increase and those in Category ‘C’ schools will have an 85 per cent increase.
The new multi-year agreement also caters for increases in the hardlying allowance; as he said, “The hardlying allowance is increased as much as 67 per cent for some teachers. Category ‘A’ schools 19 per cent, Category ‘B’ schools 39 per cent and Category ‘C’ schools 67 per cent.”
There has also been an increase in the clothing allowance of some 88 per cent.

Meanwhile, in relation to duty-free concessions, President Ali added that the government had already announced the condition that every teacher above a certain level, as long as they are three years prior to retirement, will get the concession.
“So, no teacher would leave the profession at that level without getting the concession and I think that that level was a senior master, senior mistress; despite that, in this agreement, we have increased the number of concessions that will be granted by 50 per cent, he added.
With this, in the case of those teachers in the hinterland and riverain areas, they can be eligible for concessions if they desire outside of vehicles for outboard engines and ATVs.
The Head of State, speaking on other benefits, indicated that there has also been a 100 per cent increase in scholarships that will be given to teachers annually outside of the fact that teachers are on the receiving end of scholarships under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme and in some cases the University of Guyana.

For the first time, teachers will also be paid for the marking and supervision of school-based assessments and the National Grades Five and Six mock exams.
President Ali expressed, “Looking at the complete package and all that we have given you can see that our teachers would enjoy a welfare package, and that is why we said it’s not only about salary increases, it’s a welfare package That will bring tremendous improvement to their not only salaries, but their comprehensive package that they will receive.”

He went on to add that the government is pleased to have gotten to this stage of reaching an agreement and indicated that it is now time to place focus on the children and all other plans to transform the country’s education system to deliver world-class education.
Following strike action by teachers across the country earlier this year with conciliation talks brokered by the Ministry of Labour beginning in May, as there was a stalemate in the negotiations as the union sought to have their multi-year agreement for the proposed time frame of 2019 to 2023 to be looked at, while the Education Ministry’s position was to have an agreement catering for 2024 onwards.

The Government of Guyana and the GTU subsequently agreed in June for teachers to resume work and start negotiations to determine a multi-year agreement to continue.
Several proposals during the timeframe of the negotiations were on the table to offer a better welfare package to teachers across the country by the government.