GTU agitated over change in payment of teachers’ allowance

Sep 24, 2008 News

– King

An urgent Executive Council meeting has been scheduled for today by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to address what its leadership perceive as the negligence on the part of the Education Ministry to pay teachers their Whitley Council Leave allowance.
This is according to President of the union, Mr Colwyn King, who said that based on an agreement which came into being in the year 2006, the Education Ministry had indicated its willingness to pay teachers their allowance in April of each year.

GTU President Mr Colwyn King

The agreement, King said, meant that whether a teacher becomes eligible for the allowance in January or December, April would remain the month of payment.
The process as agreed upon was fulfilled last year but for some reason this year the payment of the allowance to teachers was altered by the Ministry without bothering to consult with the union, King disclosed.
He pointed out that instead of paying the teachers in April, the Ministry decided to pay teachers as they become eligible.
According to King, several teachers had brought their concerns to the union in hope that the matter could be rectified.
“Some of these teachers have already budgeted for this money…because they know that there was an agreement for them to be paid in April…”
King said that based on the teachers’ concern, the union held several meetings with officials from the Ministry. This saw the payment date being changed from April to May to June, and then to July. Today the Ministry is paying the teachers only when they become eligible for leave.
Teachers become eligible for one month’s Whitley Council Leave which is exclusive of school holidays, after every continuous tour of duty lasting four years. The allowance associated with this type of leave amounts to the teacher’s full monthly salary which does not attract any deductions.
The situation which according to King represents yet another blatant breach of an agreement by the Education Ministry is in fact beginning to agitate both teachers and the union. He expressed optimism that continued talks with the Ministry will yield some favourable response.
The matter will be further discussed at the union’s executive level today, a forum from which King believes that the way forward on the matter will be determined.
However, Education Minister, Shaik Baksh, is adamant that the Ministry is not late in paying teachers their allowance.
The Minister admitted though that the union had in fact made a request for the teachers to be paid in April even if they become eligible for payment in December.
According to the Minister, the union in essence expects the Ministry to pay the teachers an advance which the Ministry had agreed to facilitate.
The Minister disclosed that the total number of teachers eligible for the allowance is 1,719 of which 1,370 have been paid to date.
However, Minister Baksh said that based on the recognition that teachers are being paid before they become eligible for payment and due to the fact that the union seems aggrieved over a non-existent, issue the Ministry will in fact discontinue the process from next year.