GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Dr Mark Lyte, has urged teachers to consider the entire package of salary increases and allowances, saying that movements along the salary scale plus the percentage increases would benefit the educators.
In giving an update on Facebook Live, Leyte urged members to stand in solidarity. “We must look at the whole package being offered and not just the percentage.”
He said the non-salary benefits include payment of GY$500 (One Guyana dollar = US$0.004 cents) per child per marking of each School-Based Assessment, payment to Deputy Principals of 6th Form School, the salary of the Headteacher of an ‘A’ Grade School, return airfare to the coast for teachers based in the hinterland as well as their spouses and children younger than 18 years, and an increase in the Remote Areas Incentive (RAI) from GY$20,000 to GY$23,000.
He said that while GTU and the Ministry of Education did not agree to increase the GY$10,000 allowance for holders of first degrees, the government offered a GY$2,000 increase in the existing allowances for holders of Master’s Degrees and Doctorates, a GY$1,000 increase in the allowance for holders of the Certificate in Education, and a GY$1,000 or GY$2,000 hike for those with an advanced certificate.
The GTU and the Education Ministry further reached an agreement on creating a position of a Master Teacher, whose next could be a Head of Department or a Senior Master, but opts not to apply for that position and instead remains in the classroom and receives the salary of either of those positions.
Both sides also agreed in principle that retired teachers would receive the salary of the position at which they retired rather than a lower salary that would affect their National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pension.
The GTU President said other non-salary benefits include adding another teacher to a class if the ratio is exceeded.
In the Special Needs classroom, he said the ratio would be one teacher to six learners, but the GTU intends to press for that to be reduced to one teacher for every four Special Needs students, after which another teacher would be added. Lyte also revealed that the GTU secured a 100% increase in scholarships exclusive to the University of Guyana for 70 first degrees and 30 for postgraduate diplomas or Masters in Education. “That never happened before. We always had first degrees,” he said.
The GTU had demanded a GY$25,000 health check-up allowance, but Dr. Lyte said that “did not happen., Instead, the government offered to collaborate with the Ministry of Health to organize health booths in each region for tests and evaluation.
The Ministry of Education is offering 10% for 2024, eight percent for 2025, and nine percent for 2026, in contrast to the GTU’s proposal for 39.5% for 2024 and 30% for 2025 and 2026, respectively. Dr Lyte could not immediately provide an after-tax calculation of the proposed salary increases.
Last week, the GTU General Secretary said cluster meetings revealed that teachers rejected the government’s offer and demanded at least 29.6% for 2024.
He explained that non-graduate teachers’ salaries would move from the base to the middle of the salary scale, and then the 10% for 2024, “if that is agreed on”, would be added. “In essence, those people at the lower level will receive a higher percentage because they are the ones who are suffering with the 90-something thousand and over 100,000… Everybody is suffering, but when we look at the scale, we recognize that our teachers, who are non-graduates, serve well in the system,” he said.
The two sides are expected to agree when they meet in the coming week.
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