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Govt.’s 6% proposed increase to teachers another slap in the face – PNC
Kaieteur News – The People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) on Friday called the Ministry of Education’s proposed six to seven per cent increase for teachers a slap in the face. The party in a statement at its press conference said that the proposed increase is woefully insufficient.
Opposition Parliamentarian Shurwayne Holder.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Shurwayne Holder told the media that, “It is another slap on the face of teachers. One is hard-pressed to even call 6-7% an increase, given that food and other types of inflation have reduced and will continue to reduce real or disposable income of teachers, public servants and other wage-earners.”
Holder further stated that, “No doubt, all fair-minded Guyanese join with our teachers in rejecting the insulting government proposal of 6 to 7% salary increase over the years 2024 to 2026 Guyanese must note that while Jagdeo and the PPP continue to sit on their hands and allow hundreds of billions of dollars to be embezzled through corruption in the procurement system, they have no shame in offering Guyana’s teachers crumbs and dregs. This PPP government is unrivalled in its callousness and absurdness.”
The Parliamentarian said that, “We, as the next government, are already on record as promising teachers and other public servants much higher salary increases. We are also on record as planning to ban the payment of income tax for low-to-medium income workers (by doubling to tripling the tax-free threshold) in both the private and public sectors.”
The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) had proposed a 39.5 percent salary increase for teachers in 2024.
According to the document, the GTU was also asking for “30% for each indicative year 2025 and 2026 respectively. Teachers from TS4 to TS19 (35%) for 2024, and 30% indicative year 2025 and 2026 respectively.”
Furthermore, the Union had proposed that should there be a higher percentage given to Public Servants, then the teachers/ teacher educators must get the benefit of the differences.
In the very detailed document, titled ‘Proposed Memorandum of Agreement entered between the Ministry of Education and the GTU concerning terms and conditions of employment for teachers/ teacher educators for the years 2024-2026’, the Union is also demanding among other things 100 University of Guyana scholarships per year, a clothing allowance of $40,000 and 300 duty free concessions for motor vehicles up to 2000 cc.
Additionally, the GTU is proposing “That Teachers/Teacher Educators who serve in the Interior and Hinterland / Riverain Areas be given two (2) years instead of (5) years to serve their CPCE contracts and in the case of University Graduates, they be given Three (3) points for promotional purposes having served four (4) consecutive years.”
The GTU called off the strike after being on strike for 75 days. The Union and the Ministry of Education earlier this month agreed that the 2019-2023 multi-year proposal put forward by the Union will be shelved and the focus will now be placed on the 2024 and onwards multi-year proposal.
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