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People retire in Guyana much too early, says Education Minister
– believes young people can benefit from working with experienced elders
“I don’t like the idea of people reaching what is the age of retirement here and going off into the night,”
Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
said Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, as he responded to a question from this publication relating to a possible revision of the ‘rehiring of retirees’ policy.
It was during a recent interview with this publication that President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mr Mark Lyte, told Kaieteur News that while there is a place for retired persons, there are occasions, when they are rehired in the capacity of senior officers, that it can serve to stymie the promotion of qualified young persons.
“We know that education is evolving and you have to get new strategies and plans to deal with the present education system we have, and if you are set in your old ways then obviously you will be left behind,” said Lyte, as he insisted that “we want to see young intelligent people being deployed in strategic positions within the education sector.”
For this reason, Lyte said that there is need for a revision of the policy for rehiring retired personnel for management positions.
“Rehiring these persons is good, but they should not be coming back in a managerial capacity,” the GTU President opined.
He said that currently in many Regions, and even at the Central Ministry level, there are a number of retired officials who have been rehired in managerial capacities.
Currently Guyana’s age of retirement is 55.
Although he confessed that he hasn’t yet given this subject active consideration, Dr Roopnarine was only too willing to share his opinion. And in doing so, the 72-year-old politician said, “frankly I believe that people retire in Guyana much too early. They really are retiring at the height of their competence and experience and all of that.”
Given the extent of skills shortage in some areas, a situation owing mainly to outward migration, the Education Minister reiterated his belief that “it is time for us to muster all the skills and experience at our disposal. So yes, I believe that many people who have in fact reached what we call retirement age still have a lot to offer.”
“It’s, to my mind, a point at which people have reached a point in their lives where, as I said, the experience they have accumulated over the years and the maturity of judgement is not something that we can afford to just dispose of,” the Minister said.
Moreover, he expressed his view that “I would be very happy if people, who reach that point in their careers, are prepared to stay on and continue to contribute.”
While at the time of his interview with this publication, he was not convinced that the retaining of such skills could affect the upward mobility of young professionals, Dr Roopnaraine however noted that “we would run a risk of that if I felt that these retirees were in fact sitting on top of all of this young, emerging talent”. But no, I don’t believe that. I think that there is, in terms of human capacity, room for young people bursting with energy and all of that, working alongside people who have reached that stage of their careers and have great maturity.”
In fact, according to the Education Minister, the younger people have a great deal to benefit from working in close relationships with their older colleagues who have “seen everything that is to be seen”.
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