After waiting for close to one month for a word from the Ministry of Education on a multi-year salary increase proposal from the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), plans for a meeting have been streamlined. This is according to information released by the Ministry today.
In its statement, the Ministry said that a high level committee on public education has been reactivated to examine the GTU’s proposal. Additionally, it noted that an invitation has been extended to the union to attend a meeting in the second week of March 2019 to initiate the negotiation process.
In its proposal, the union is aiming for, among other things, a 25 percent increase across the board for public school teachers. The union is also proposing conditions for the re-employment of retired teachers; the need for grants for schools which are often subjected to inadequate stock; and incentive for teachers with additional qualifications and those qualified in areas of physical education and special needs education. “Some of the things, we have fine-tuned them. We still have things like duty-free concessions, continuation of the Whitley Council [leave]…we are proposing adjustment to Whitley Council; we have clothing allowances; we have house-lots for teachers still on the cards and we do have other things like class size issues. The class size for special needs schools, we are requesting a smaller number or in cases where the number cannot be smaller we are recommending a teacher’s aide for the teachers so at all times there will be two persons to the class,” said GTU President, Mr. Mark Lyte shared.
Since submitting its proposal, the union expressed hope that the Ministry officials will be able to study the proposal and offer a feedback on the way forward no later than March month end.
