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Education Minister aims for enhanced partnership with GTU

Jul 29, 2015 News

Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, is aiming to have what he described as an “enhanced partnership” with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU).
“The first people I met when I came into this building (26 Brickdam, Georgetown, Ministry of Education) was the Guyana Teachers’ Union,” said Minister Roopnaraine as he emphasised his desire to work closely with the body.
“My own attitude to the Union is that they should sit with me right from the beginning so that we can formulate policies together so that when teachers are in the classrooms, and their members are operating the educational mandates…that they will in fact be implementing policies which they contributed to making.”
This is particularly imperative, the Minister stressed, since “I don’t want robots in the classrooms. I want the GTU to participate in the actual formulation of policies. We have a good working relationship and I hope that we can develop it,” added the Minister.
His remarks came after he was asked about a list of concerns outlined by the GTU that were forwarded to his office. The GTU’s concerns range from the physical environment of schools to financial benefits for teachers, and draws attention to a number of policies that govern the actual delivery of education.
In order to move discussions forward the Minister said, “I told the GTU that what I would like is for them to identify three or four people who will come in here (Ministry of Education) and work with education officials so that we will enhance this partnership.”
In addition to garnering the support of the union and by extension teachers, the Minister also highlighted the need for the Education Ministry to closely collaborate with parents.
He disclosed that plans are underway to activate a national teachers association.
“We are going to appoint a secretariat so that we can really integrate the parents as well as the teachers so that they can carry out educational policies, because that is the partnership that we need…we need active partnerships with the parents, the teachers and the Ministry (as a whole),” Minister Roopnaraine asserted.
His commentary saw him passionately stressing the important role that teachers play in the classroom, an undertaking which he insists warrants a more meaningful remuneration package.
“I am always agitating for an increase (remuneration) for teachers. I have made the point publicly – I said it in Parliament, I have said it elsewhere that I don’t think we value our teachers enough. They have crucial roles to play in the classroom and we have to compensate them in accordance with how we view them and their importance…That is the ministerial code for saying we need to pay teachers more,” the Minister emphasised.
In an earlier interview, the Minister had expressed his desire to see teachers being among the best paid public servants. According to him, “we don’t live in an ideal world (and) there is a limited amount (of money) to go around, but I believe that teachers must be adequately paid, they must be able to live lives that permit them a certain amount of dignity.”
“You can’t have teachers selling plantain chips at break time to top-up their salaries; that is simply not acceptable,” said the Minister, as he assured that examining the remuneration package of teachers is definitely a priority issue on his agenda.
“We have to look at remuneration; we have to discuss this with the Union, but I don’t want to just say what percentage I think we should increase teachers’ salaries by. I do believe that teachers deserve to live good lives to essentially leave the classroom satisfied and earn a living that is commensurate with their importance in society.”

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