Guyana’s President declares Govt aims to create the best environment for teachers

President Irfaan Ali has assured that his Government will continue to put systems in place to create the best working environment for teachers in Guyana.

Ali noted that since his Government took office two years ago, they have worked on enhancing the lives of both teachers and students, and will continue to do so with new progressive initiatives.  The President made this statement today as part of his message on World Teachers’ Day 2022. It was noted that the theme for this year’s celebration worldwide is ‘Transformation of Education: Starting with Teachers’.

“On this very important day—World Teachers’ Day, I want to assure our teachers that your time will come, that we’re working hard to give you the best environment that you can work in; more importantly, as the years progress that you will be in a profession that you will be very proud of,” he said. The Head of State, whose parents are retired teachers, said that he understands the commitment of teachers, as well as their challenges, especially the number of hours spent on clerical duties.  As a result, a policy decision has been taken to provide every school with clerical support to remove the burden of record keeping from the teachers and to give them more time in the classroom.

Additionally, Ali noted that in the coming year, the Government is working on supporting both teachers and young mothers by establishing daycare centres across the country. He noted that while 86 guidance counsellors have been deployed, the Government will work on providing every school with one to support teachers.

HUMAN RESOURCE IMPROVEMENT

Ali pointed out that an important part of development is the improvement of opportunities for teachers to advance their professional careers. He noted that thousands of teachers have benefited from the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) and other scholarship opportunities in pursuit of higher education.

“More than 5,000 teachers are now in training over the last two years. We’ve removed the quota system, and the removal of the quota system is because of the application of technology. The University of Guyana Education Programme has now migrated online. We have many online educational programmes for teachers, whether it’s degree programmes and diploma programmes,” he said

It was noted that the removal of this system, the President explained, now gives the opportunity to all teachers to further their education in a format of their choice. To complement this, President Ali said that the Government is working on establishing a platform to ensure there is 100% access to training for all teachers across the country. This will be done by way of making online training modules and manuals and “transforming the Teachers Training Institute into a more nimble and flexible organisation”.

“We are building out the infrastructure to ensure that schools are connected, that they have data connectivity, teachers could have that connectivity also to use that technology available, deploy the technology to ensure that they’re delivering in a modern environment,” he stressed. The President also said that the system of trainee teachers receiving a stipend of $11,000  GUY has been revamped into a system where they are now placed on the payroll and given a salary of $80,000 GUY. This is one of a number of other progressive systems being implemented.

“In the last Government, what occurred is that the salaries of teachers, new teachers were based on the previous year’s salary and not the current year’s salary. I’ve instructed that this situation be corrected. As a result, more than 1,300 teachers across the country will benefit when this correction is made,” he noted. This, Ali noted, is another major achievement in supporting teachers, their transformation, their personal welfare and well-being and giving them a good working environment so that they can deliver a more comprehensive and modern learning environment.

Ali also noted that while there is a backlog in teachers receiving their permanent training certificate from 2016, he has instructed for it to be cleared by the end of the year.

REVAMPING OF SPORT PROGRAMME

The President explained that the Government does not only want to nurture students who are strong academically, but wants to create “rounded students who can participate in all aspects of national life”. As such, to accomplish this, he said that he has asked the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry and the Education Ministry to collaborate with the country’s former athletes from all sporting disciplines to create an accelerated training programme. They will then be “deployed to schools so that we can revamp, reorganise, restructure and reignite sports as an important component in our school curriculum and in the education transformation”.

Ali said that overall, that his Government intends to continue working closely with all teachers to ensure their growth and that of the country’s students. “I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all teachers across our country for their continued hard work, their commitment and dedication, and their own personal upliftment as we as a Government work closely with them and with the sector to ensure we give them the right environment, to ensure that we give them the tools that can help them, that can aid their transformation so they can be in a better position, to be nimble, to be flexible, to adapt to this new environment in which teachers must operate,” he added.