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Apr 18, 2015 News
Teachers should be the best paid public servants in Guyana- Granger
At a recently held forum arranged by the Guyana Women Roundtable (GWR) and Guyana National
Youth Council (GNYC), members of the public were able to meet with APNU+AFC Presidential candidate, Brigadier David Granger (Ret’d), and party executive Catherine Hughes, at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, Parade Street, Kingston.
The forum was specifically designed to allow the candidates to put forward the coalition’s plan to address issues that are currently affecting women and youths in Guyana.
One of the questions presented required the Presidential candidate to address the local education system, and the low paying salary that is currently being offered to teachers.
Granger was asked, “If your party is elected to serve the people of Guyana, what policies will your administration implement to ensure that teachers, and other key public servants are properly compensated and motivated to perform their services?”
In his response, the coalition’s Presidential hopeful stated, “I have always been saying that, at this point in Guyana’s development, teachers should be the best paid public servants. The nurses didn’t like it, but we are not going to turn the education system around if we do not attract the best teachers.”
Granger explained that this does not only apply to teachers at the primary and secondary level, but involves lecturers at the University of Guyana, Cyril Potter College of Education and other post-secondary educational institutions. He added, “We have to get the finest Guyanese” to mould the minds of students.
He went on to say that he has travelled the Caribbean, and has discovered that the teacher of the year award would usually go to Guyanese teachers, who migrated so that they can receive better salaries for the job
“… The teacher of the year in Barbados is Guyanese and it’s most likely the same in the Bahamas and Belize. Teachers have been fleeing Guyana because of the poor conditions and the only way we can retain them is by providing better conditions. But right now that is not happening…”
Granger promised that under an APNU+AFC government, teachers will be adequately compensated and appreciated for the important role that they play in society. He said that his party has made commitments toward creating better conditions for teachers. One of these is the “One LAPTOP per teacher”, initiative.
He explained that he asked some “friendly people”, to donate laptops, iPads and tablets which he has been distributing to head teachers of various schools across Guyana. He stressed, “I can’t have teachers teaching youngsters and they themselves don’t have access to computers.”
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