After over four years, some teachers who say they are not being paid their correct salaries are still waiting for the discrepancies to be rectified.
Antacia Thomas, who graduated from the Pre-Service Training of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in 2016, told Stabroek News that she and others, like Gabriella Cummings, have made repeated efforts to get their salary discrepancies rectified but all to no avail.
Thomas, who graduated in 2016, said she has been receiving the wrong salary since early 2018, while Cummings, who graduated in 2017, found that her issue started in early 2018. Both teachers have said they are being paid below their peers with similar experience and qualifications.
Having approached a number of ministers already but with no success, Thomas took the step in January 27, 2020, of writing then President David Granger, in order to seek his intervention to have the situation corrected.
She said that since she started highlighting her plight, she met several other teachers who are also experiencing the same issue. She said there are some 115 confirmed cases of teachers from primary to prevocational levels who are not receiving the correct salary, she said.
Thomas said that there is yet to be a plausible explanation as to why the salaries are different, leading her to think that it is either the result of a mix up or a deliberate act.
She observed that during her first months of being in the teaching profession, she was being paid the correct salary but then the discrepancy occurred and since then her salary hasn’t ever been paid in the correct amount.
In addition, several letters addressing the issue have been sent to personnel at the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and concerns have been raised at several community outreaches. She explained that her initial complaints started while she was teaching in Ber-bice. She is now attached at a Georgetown secondary school and her queries are still being processed through Region Six. According to the teacher, she spoke to a commissioner of the Teaching Service Commission, who sent her to the Ministry of Education, who then sent her to the Regional Demo-cratic Council of Region Six. The Regional Demo-cratic Council of Region Six sent her back to the Teaching Service Com-mission. There was no progress in addressing the issue or correcting it.
She further said that in 2019, she, Cummings and other teachers went to community outreaches where they spoke with several ministers but they did not get to raise the issue with the then education minister, Nicolette Henry. In 2020, they were able to speak with the Guyana Teachers’ Union but she noted that while they were told the issue was being looked into, there was no progress.
Thomas said that the teachers are still making efforts at several ministries and other agencies, requesting that the salaries be adjusted to the corrected amount and also that the money owed to them in the intervening period also be paid over. She estimates that she is owed over $1,000,000.
