IF we are to have a meaningful transformation of the education system, we cannot leave behind, the teachers, who are at the centre of the system.
As Guyana celebrated World Teachers’ Day 2026, President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s reaffirmation of the government’s commitment to improving teachers’ welfare, professional development and working conditions is therefore timely and important.
The president’s promise of better pay, improved allowances, grants to promote teaching and learning, more opportunities for training and steps to boost teacher morale acknowledges a basic fact: investment in classrooms, technology and infrastructure can only realize its full potential when teachers are adequately supported to use them.
Guyana is experiencing an unprecedented transformation in education.
New and upgraded schools are broadening access; smart classrooms and digital resources are transforming the learning environment; and programs designed to bolster science, technology, engineering and mathematics education are preparing teachers and students for a more competitive future.
Budget 2026 invests $183.6 billion in education, including school infrastructure, teacher development, learning resources and skills training.
The government has also shown that investment in physical infrastructure has to be matched by teacher development.
For example, the Guyana STELLAR Programme aims to provide in-depth training for pre-service secondary school teachers on science and math education, leadership and evidenced-based teaching practices.
These initiatives are headed in the right direction. But maybe the most significant change occurring in education is one that can’t be measured in the number of schools built or classrooms outfitted.
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way information is accessed, processed and produced.
For teachers, this is an incredible opportunity as well as a serious responsibility. So President Ali is right to stress that in the face of AI, Guyana should not be averse to it.
Instead, the country has to make sure that young people learn how to use the technology in a responsible, ethical and intelligent way.
This is where the teacher becomes more important not less. A student can ask an AI system to generate an answer in seconds. But the teacher is still needed to ask the more important questions: Does the student understand the answer? Can you rely on the information? Can the student explain the logic? Ethical considerations? How do I apply this information in the real world? Those are basically questions about humans. Artificial intelligence can help with lesson planning, educational materials, differentiated instruction, and interactive learning. It can help teachers identify where students need extra help and provide new avenues for classroom creativity.
Yet technology cannot replace the patience of a teacher watching a child struggle, the encouragement of a student who has lost confidence, or the wisdom needed to shape character and build responsible citizens.
This is why professional development has to be a permanent feature of the education system in Guyana.
You can’t expect the future teacher to guide students through a digital world while being left behind by that same world.
Therefore, continuous professional learning in technology, AI literacy, contemporary pedagogy, assessment and critical thinking should be embedded in the professional culture of teaching.
Guyana’s current education policy directions already recognize the importance of improving teachers’ ICT competencies and integrating such competencies into teacher training and professional development.
The challenge now is how to ensure these commitments reach every teacher, from Georgetown to the hinterland, from large secondary schools to small riverine and remote-community classrooms.
The same principle applies to assessing students. The proliferation of generative AI is prompting education systems worldwide to reconsider how they evaluate learning.
An assignment that can be created in seconds doesn’t necessarily tell a teacher what a student knows or understands.
This challenge Guyana should use as an opportunity to make learning more meaningful. More emphasis can be placed on oral presentations, classroom discussion, practical assignments, problem-solving, projects, critical analysis and other forms of assessment requiring students to demonstrate real understanding.
Students learn about AI as they learn to spot misinformation, check sources, give credit where it’s due, and stay on the right side of academic integrity.
That approach would teach young Guyanese not only how to use technology, but how to master it.
This is especially true as Guyana undergoes rapid economic development, creating new opportunities that will need a workforce capable of adapting to changing technologies.
Education must therefore produce young people who are not only able to memorize information, but who can think critically, communicate effectively, solve problems, innovate and continue to learn throughout their lives.
Teachers are critical to that mission. The UNESCO World Teachers’ Day celebrated in 2026, will mark the 60th anniversary of the landmark ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, and has firmly placed the protection and advancement of the teaching profession on the international agenda.
Teachers were facing new pressures emerging from digital technologies, climate change, inclusion and other fast-evolving contexts, said the global body.
Guyana is undergoing many of these changes at once. Hence, giving teachers a higher status should not be seen as a cost to the education system. It should be seen as an investment in the country’s future.
Better pay makes a difference. Professional development is important. Modern classrooms count. Adequate teaching resources are important. But so is respect, recognition, career development, supportive leadership and creating an environment in which teachers can do their best.
It is therefore welcome that the Government has given a stated commitment to these areas. At the same time, teachers themselves have an important role to play.
The classroom is changing and that means a willingness to learn, adapt and be open to new ways of doing things.
Educators need to be ready to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills, experiment with appropriate technologies and be open to new approaches that can improve student outcomes.
The partnership must therefore be clear: the government must provide the resources, training, infrastructure and supportive conditions; teachers must take advantage of the opportunities for professional growth and maintain the highest standards of the profession.
Parents and communities have a responsibility, too. No single education system can work if the responsibility for a child’s development is left solely to the teacher or the school.
World Teachers’ Day must therefore be more than an annual thanksgiving. This should be a reminder that the strength of Guyana’s education system will eventually depend on the seriousness with which the nation takes the people it employs to educate its children.
Guyana is betting big on its future. That investment included new schools, technology, increased access and professional development programmes.
But even the most sophisticated classroom is only a room until a skilled teacher enters it.
The Government is right to put teachers at the heart of the transformation. The challenge now is to maintain this commitment and deepen it and translate it into sustained improvements in the profession.
Because if Guyana is serious about building a more prosperous, innovative and capable nation, then it must continue to invest in the people who are preparing the next generation to lead it. Guyana’s future will be built in its classrooms, and teachers must be at the heart of it.