Teachers struggling; PPP promising

Jun 02, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – With great disappointment I type this letter. I currently serve this great nation of Guyana as a teacher and it is my opinion that teachers are undervalued and our dedication and efforts are thrown aside. Since the PPP/C administration took office in August 2020, we were promised better working conditions and comfortable living wages, something that all teachers have looked forward to. It is now May 2023 and to date, we are still looking and hoping for these promises to be fulfilled.

Let me give you a breakdown of how I exist from pay cheque to pay cheque. Imagine a teacher [untrained or currently in college] working for $85,611 before tax and $79,961 after tax. Transportation: $1200 per day (I live miles away from the area in which I work) that’s $24,000 per month if checked at 20 working days per month, that is 5 days per week times 4 weeks per month. Light bill $6000, Phone $2000, Internet $5000, Monthly ration $30,000. That’s already $67,000 and I didn’t include my son’s transportation to and from school, water bill, personal effects, clothing, etc.

There are persons who have to pay rent from that same salary which is impossible. We also purchase stuff for the classroom from our salaries. When I get off from work at 15:15 hrs, I have no time for my family since I have to head over to my other job just so myself and family can survive. At my other job, I clock in at 16:00 hrs and clock out at 23:30 hrs, when I get home, it is 1:30 or 2 in the morning. Then I have to be up by 5:30 to prepare meals for myself and child for the day, I hardly get to spend time with my child since I work on weekends as well. I know that there are other teachers like myself who are tired of the empty promises by the government and at this point, we don’t know what to do. If we decide to protest, the government threatens to deduct from your salary the days that you were out protesting. We are sick and tired of being bullied and given false hopes by this government. President Ali, you need to realise that teachers are more than just teachers, we are doctors, nurses, counsellors, mentors, etc. to these children and as a result, we should be better compensated. I know that you probably don’t even care because your family is well taken care of at the expense of taxpayers. Your entire Cabinet and their families are also well taken care of. My question to you Mr. President is when will the ordinary public servant like myself be able to afford a comfortable life in this country? I can go on and on about the different things that are affecting us, but I’ll leave that to your Minister of Education to fill you in further. I surely hope that our complaints do not fall on deaf ears.

Regards
Sir K. Clarke

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