Do something for our Teachers

Oct 18, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Guyanese Teachers have been crying out long and loud. Their complaints have had little reception where such things matter, and met with counter-narratives from the PPPC Government. Their grievances are well-known, and their presences are dwindling (‘Poor working conditions force Guyanese teachers into early retirement’- KN October 7). Regardless of how this is received, it cannot be good for this country and its citizens, definitely not at this time.

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) noted that teachers are leaving by the scores in opting for the relief of early retirement. The point to be absorbed is that they are doing so while they still have some productive years left, and the early retirement option taken is not due to ill-health, or migration, or such. Rather, it is because those who have taken care of the nation’s children for decades, see no other way out of their hard, heavy predicament. Their working conditions, their equipment, and their pay are all uniformly on the short, wrong, and bad side. They are hurting and their plights and pleas all fall on deaf ears before an uncaring and unresponsive government.

This is the GTU’s position, and one that has some substance. It is revealing that some teachers are removing themselves from the profession while they still have some earning years left, and with the understanding that their post-retirements benefits will be impacted. What is clear is that they are frustrated and fed-up, and some simply say enough is enough, and leave voluntarily.

One would expect that because teachers represent so much, that a strong effort would have been made by the Government to listen more sympathetically, and respond more meaningfully. This is considering that teachers retiring early would have accumulated many years of experience, developed significant skills, and worked out approaches that address the needs of their young charges. There can be no price attached to the wisdom that come from such decades of practice. Or to say differently, replacement of teachers in such quantities as they leave becomes a testing proposition for any Government.

For its part, the PPPC Government made clear that it recognizes the role of teachers in the transformation of the nation’s education system, and their need to be properly equipped. The hope is that this is not lip service, and rushing to brush the issue out of sight with a quick soundbite. The President himself has promised that the issues of teachers will be resolved in time, and their challenges will not be left to fester unaddressed. It is comforting to hear the nation’s Leader taking this position, but there has to be guarding against overconfidence in what the President puts into the public domain. This is because for some groups and some appeals, the PPPC Government and the President have both been resistant to listening, actually hearing, and then doing something to bring relief to suffering Guyanese.

We point to the pain of Junior Public Servants toiling away for just over GY$70,000 monthly. Everyone knows that more than double that number is required to manage the basics of living in this country today, with prices racing at runaway speeds from citizens. Of note, the Opposition AFC recently made public calls for a pay hike of GY$100,00 for teachers (KN October 6). Yet, Government and President have turned a blind eye and deaf ear to their woes-maybe it could be advanced, their existence. Teachers may not be considered to be part of the traditional Public Service, but they are servants of the State working in the public space for the public good. Meaning, preparation of Guyanese children for Guyanese challenges and the Guyanese future that awaits. We don’t think that any reasonable official (elected or otherwise) or citizen would differ too much with that position. Still, our teachers languish for all the priority that they get, and they respond by leaving in discomforting numbers. This is troubling since it is to our detriment, but the PPPC Government drags its feet in addressing their concerns, while it puts out all these overpowering oil numbers to fill our heads. These oil numbers either have substance and meaning for Guyanese, teachers included, or they are nothing but empty words and figures.

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