GTU disassociates self from findings of Education COI

May 06, 2017 News

---

The Guyana Teachers Union [GTU] has disassociated itself from the findings of the Commission

of Inquiry into the Education system. GTU President, Mr. Mark Lyte, said that this move is warranted since “we were sidelined as a major stakeholder in education by being left out of the Commission’s panel.”
Lyte’s remarks follow on the heels of the release of the preliminary report of the inquiry which was last week handed over to Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.
The GTU President is convinced that “we were deliberately left out of the Commission’s composition therefore we cannot relate to anything the Commission reports about.”
However, Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ed Caesar revealed that not only did the Commission travelled countrywide to garner the necessary information in order to gain a firsthand understanding of the system but it was able to successfully reach a wide cross-section of the society, including the GTU, to acquire its information.
Lyte is adamant that this is not the case, thus the union’s unwillingness to be associated in any way with the work of the Commission.
This publication was informed, that the GTU was belatedly dropped from the Commission, and that at the commencement of the COI, a representative of the GTU was asked to be a part of the Commission.
Although the representative was named, reports suggest that the Union’s representation was discontinued about a month into the commencement of the COI, reportedly because of a lack of funds.
According to reports a request was made to Cabinet for the individuals sitting on the Commission to be paid a stipend. However, Cabinet advised that only five persons sit on the Commission. This reportedly resulted in the Union’s

representative being excluded.
An official close to the education system at that time had questioned whether there was an ulterior motive behind excluding the Union from the Commission.
”How can you exclude a key stakeholder from an important process like this?” the official asked. “The way I see it, these people don’t seem to have any regard for the Union which is supposed to be a main partner in this whole process to get answers on the way forward.”
The COI had commenced in April with the private sector and other representatives fully on board.
Signalling his displeasure yesterday, Lyte said that an inquiry of such magnitude should have had representatives from the key stakeholders in education for it to be accepted. “It therefore means that GTU cannot associate itself with any report that does not have our direct participation…We feel it was short sightedness on the part of the Ministry of Education to exclude us totally,” said the GTU President.
In fact, Lyte has made it clear that “contrary to what was carried in the media, the GTU is pleased with the recommendations of the COI…This could not be further from the truth.”
Lyte, turning his attention to the recommendation of the COI regarding increasing the retirement age to 65, said that in no way would the GTU support such a move.
“We would never agree to this without taking into consideration all the facts surrounding this noble profession. Teachers are hard pressed in and out of the classroom both physically and financially with all the secretarial duties that are added to teaching in the last few decades here in Guyana,” asserted Lyte as he also made reference to the fact that “teachers are sometimes not readily afforded benefits they earn and are often neglected by those who are expected to take care of their interest.”
The Union, he said, is aware that “the majority of our members cannot wait to attain 55 to retire due to the stress this profession adds to their lives…A number of teachers are opting for voluntary retirement at 50.”
Caesar revealed that the Commission has discussed the possibility of persons opting to retire at the age of 65 and has given consideration to a clause whereby such persons must be able to produce, on an annual basis, a clean bill of health.
According to Caesar, “We are recommending quietly that consideration be given to improving the age of retirement from 55 to 60 with the provision that persons can still retire if they acquire the 33 and one third years… [but] they can still retire at 55.”
“But we are going further if they can produce annually a clean bill of health they can go to 65, that is for consideration by the Ministry of Education and its departments,” said Caesar.
In response to this recommendation Minister Roopnaraine said, “My view is frankly we are retiring people at the height of their powers and their experience…The fact of the matter is we have teachers who reach a stage where they are at the height of their career, they are full of experience, full of skills and you know I hate to lose them.”

---

---