An Inter-ministerial and Guyana Teacher’s Union taskforce was established yesterday to address salaries and conditions for teachers. A joint statement from the two sides said that the initial meeting was chaired by Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry.
Those in attendance were: Marcel Hutson, Chief Education Officer, MOE; Adele Clarke, Permanent Secretary (ag), MOE; Jacqueline Simon, Human Resource Manager, MOE; Geneveive Whyte-Nedd former Chief Education Officer; Kelly-ann Hercules, Legal Officer, Ministry of Education, MOE; Frederick Mc Wilfred, Political Advisor, Ministry of the Presidency; Gail Williams, Senior Personnel Officer, Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Public Service; Dr Hector Butts, Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Emil Mc Garrell, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communities; Mark Lyte, President, Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU); Coretta Mc Donald, General Secretary, GTU; Samanta Alleyene, Treasurer, GTU; Lancelot Baptiste, Administrative Secretary, GTU.
The statement said that Henry supplied the members of the task force with background information and relevant documents and announced that the task force will be chaired by Geneveive Whyte-Nedd. She also urged members to be professional in their deliberations and about their responsibility to the nation.
The work of the task force commences with the formulation of terms of reference which should be completed within a week. The mandate of the task force is to scrutinise outstanding problems “with a view to their timely resolution and to propose a new, multi-year agreement between the government and the union”. Statutory weekly meetings will be held, the statement said.
Following each meeting, joint statements by the Chairman of the task force and the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union will be issued to the public.
The taskforce comes after a threatened strike by the union.
