Min. of Education should look into this complaint of teachers

Mar 11, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I wish to bring to the public’s view some concerns teachers have been expressing with the hope that the Ministry of Education and Guyana Teachers Union will look into these matters urgently. I must admit that without teachers our country would not have the future generation of leaders, doctors, and lawyers to name a few. As such this is not a profession for temporary qualified or temporary unqualified teachers.
The Chief Education Officer in February of 2009 issued a circular entitled
“Upgrading of Teacher Aides, Junior Teachers, Acting Teachers, Temporary Unqualified Master/Mistress for entry to Cyril Potter College of Education” (CPCE) in which the category of teachers mentioned above will be given fifteen (15) months to acquire the requisite qualifications for entry into CPCE. The letter went on to say that these categories of teachers who are unable to get into CPCE will have their services terminated. However, to date the Teacher Service Commission is still employing and relying on these categories of teachers and the system has more than 10% of these children teaching our children.
I want to join with our President who at CPCE graduation last December when he said, “The untrained teacher has no place in the future of our educational system.” The time is now to rid Guyana’s Public school of all untrained teachers and terminate these services so that the many trained teachers CPCE put out each year can be accommodated. Further, it’s one thing to sacrifice time to qualify oneself at CPCE but then the Ministry of Education and Teacher Service Commission (TSC) are taking a long time to recognize such teachers.
Teachers graduate from CPCE each year, yet are unable to acquire their Permanent Trained Teachers Certificate. I wish the Ministry would look into this area as well, as soon as possible. Every term/year schools are asked to submit the names of all teachers without their certificates and checks would reveal that some names are on those lists more than ten (10) years now. No educational institution in the world takes that long to produce and equip their participants with due recognition. If Guyana is to move forward this system needs to be rectified in a timely manner.
Moreover, I am disappointed that teachers graduating with Associate Degrees are given temporary certificates with the caption Grade 1, Class 1 Trained Teacher’s Certificate, when indeed they did an associate degree program. What hypocrisy! Additionally, the said teachers’ salary has not been upgraded to suit the program they would have completed. These teachers are put through two years of rigorous studies undertaking three semesters per year unlike their fellow counter parts who have completed CPCE in three (3) years. Mr President you said your government is about change if nothing else. I really wish you or someone in authority will look into these concerns that teachers have been articulating over the years and speedily address them as they would have contributed to the level of commitment some teachers have to the profession.
Sandra Jaipaul

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