Dear Editor,
I must concede to my long-standing neighbour George Cave that I did not pay attention to his advice about the limitations of the established Teaching Service Commission. But with the greatest respect, nothing he has said denies the substantive issue about the poor levels of the remuneration offered to so many qualified teachers, and the responsibilities they so faithfully discharge, and for which they are publicly accountable.
My colleague does not address the anachronism of Teachers being appointed as ‘Temporaries’ for life. Nor does he trouble to compare a Teacher beginning in 2021 at $74,184 per month, while an Office Assistant starts at $70,000. And whilst it may be unfair to appear to place the blame on the Commission, it is by no means unreasonable for the latter to be expected to display some initiative and bring the Administration’s attention to the patent differentials in job values between the two sets of public servants.
Why does not my colleague bemoan the fact that the Principals of Queen’s College/Bishops’ High School will remain at a fixed salary for the remainder of a career. What does this imply in terms of a pension?
I sincerely hope that we can agree that the Guyana Teachers’ Union is the real co-defaulter in this situation, the other being of course the respective Administrations. Would my colleague deny that Teachers produce talents that enter the Public Service at better rates of pay – albeit for comparatively less responsibility?
It must no longer be argued that there is no capacity to pay better, moreso in the face of the Grant Donor’s reported observation of low returns from the education system. We must insist on caring about Teachers, of whom already there is a scarcity.
Hopefully, by now this argument would have been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Education.
Yours faithfully,
E. B. John
