Work is work, but when it comes to certain professions, there is an expected moral commitment for persons to work out of love and not economic gain. Primarily, these industries tend to be dominated by women, with nurses and teachers falling on top of this pile. There is a lot that can be said about how the gendered nature of these professions, often encourages a dismissal of their needs and labour rights. In the case of teachers, they sit at the helm of an incredibly underfunded sector wherein they often have to pick up the government’s slack in order to create an environment that is conducive to learning.
The disparity of care and gaps within the system became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein teachers had to quickly adapt their training for remote teaching, even while managing the challenges of having full oversight of their children and other dependents throughout the day. Globally, teachers left the education sector en masse contributing towards what is now called the “great resignation,” spurred by COVID-19 and pre-existing factors that became further expanded during the height of the novel virus.
Recently, President Ali stated that teachers will receive salary adjustments at the appropriate time. What this means exactly, is unknown, but it is apparent that many in the education sector are waiting with bated breath to see if their labour of love, as indicated by the education Minister, will finally begin returning sensible dividends. The poor pay of teachers, has long been well recorded. Even at higher levels within the system, the rates hit a mid level plateau whose parity is a long way off from other professions. Given the challenges experienced by professionals, it is unsurprising that Guyana ranks tenth in the world for its high levels of brain drain. Currently, Jamaica (which ranks second) is facing immense teacher shortages that of course are significantly impacting their educational sector. Guyana is not far off, and we would do well to urgently begin making moves in order to create an enabling environment that teachers and other professionals do not feel the need to flee from.
Recently, the Ministry of Education has increased training programmes to encourage persons into the teaching sector. These initiatives however, mean very little to the long term sustainability of the education system’s professionals. How is increased training supposed to encourage more persons to enter the teaching service when wages are low, the environment and bureaucracy is stagnant, infrastructure lacking, and support absolutely miniscule? Maybe Minister Manickchand was a bit right in stating that a lot of people in the sector are there out of love for the job, because I cannot imagine going through years of training and career advancement moves only to end up struggling to survive from my profession on a monthly basis.
Guyana Teacher’s Union has been fighting an extremely long battle when it comes to fair compensation for the nation’s teachers, always coming up short in the face of the government’s priorities. The general public is almost never on their side. Part of the reason there is often a pushback against teachers gaining more benefits, is due to the negative news that often end up in the media. Only recently, another case of a teacher abusing a student, resulting in a parent physically responding was circulating. There is a whole other conversation within that incident that speaks to the normalization of violence against children through “corporal punishment,” and the colonial elements that maintain it. What was interesting to me though are how these stories are often utlized to justify the repression of the teaching industry. It is apparent that the sector is full of bad teachers, but that is also a systemic symptom that needs to be addressed through comprehensive reform of the sector. Individualizing blame on teachers ultimately serves no one as the gaps that necessitate these archaic and regressive behaviours are maintained by the sector’s refusal to adjust.
The educational system is in dire need of reform. There are a lot of colonial era holdovers that do not serve the children nor those teaching them. Teachers are the linchpin to success and development, ensuring their maintenance in a space that desperately needs them is just smart planning.
