Housing loans for teachers of $15m at an interest rate of 3.75% were floated yesterday by President Irfaan Ali in a meeting with a large number of educators at State House but a livestream of the session ended abruptly just when a litany of problems were raised including WiFi not being available over the last two years in one school.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the President stated that within two weeks, an activity will be organised during which banks will be invited to approve loans, on the spot for teachers who have already been allocated a piece of land.
“What I can ask the (Chief Education Officer) to do for me now is to check in the entire school system to see all the teachers who would have had an allocation made to them for a piece of land but they don’t have the bank loan or the bank is giving them a hard time.
“We will get the list of teachers; we will tell you all that you have to walk with…so we get everything pre-approved,” he said.
Ali noted that he reached out to the banks to work along with teachers to prequalify and approve them for loans for up to $15 million with an interest rate of 3.75 per cent.
The teachers will have the option to choose one of the designs from the different categories offered by the Ministry of Housing and Water in order to fast track the process, DPI said.
“If you want to use that design you can save that cost…we will try to expedite the approval [for the plans] at the NDC [Neighbourhood Democratic Council] level,” the president further stated.
An Office of the President release yesterday said that teachers who are yet to commence construction will receive subsidies from the Government for steel and cement to build their foundations.
In a meeting that would be seen as attempting to undermine the bargaining process between the GTU and the government, President Ali also said that the existing anomalies affecting teachers paid below their minimum salary scales will be rectified this month, according to the release from the Office of the President.
On September 12, the government approved a salary adjustment for teachers paid below the minimum of their applicable scale. Their salary will now be brought up to the minimum of the scale of the current year. The adjustments will take effect from October 1 this year.
A one-off arrears payment will be made for eligible teachers for the period September 1 2020 to September 30 2023, the circular said.
The President added that while some of the issues will be immediately addressed, within the next two weeks there will be discussions with Cabinet and other stakeholders on some of the proposals and issues raised.
The meeting was convened at State House to provide teachers with an opportunity to voice their concerns directly to the President. It was further aimed towards discussing critical issues such as teacher salaries, incentives, working conditions, professional development, and other matters that have a significant impact on the education sector.
During the abridged livestream, a teacher from Culvert City addressed the inaccessibility to stable internet which results in the lack of access to various resources to effectively perform duties, while a head teacher noted that her school has been without WiFi for over years. Another teacher highlighted the conditions of the houses that teachers taken from the coastland are faced to live in.
“Even though the cupboards were installed I now have a room which has the potential to blow off. The other night I was awoken to my children screaming because of this.” She noted.
One teacher from Region Nine noted that a school built for 500 was now grappling with 1,000.
Bumpy
The dire need for subsistence to be given to teachers in the hinterland to acquire a vehicle for the bumpy terrain was the cry of a senior teacher in the hinterland, who seemed to have all her points on her phone waiting to be addressed. As she was about to move to her next point the President declared that this was not the “United Nations” appearing to indicate that she was taking too long.
Overcrowding was also a main issue addressed by most teachers in hinterland schools. The need for additional buildings and proper ventilation was addressed by a teacher from Cotton Tree Secondary in Mahaica.
She requested that considerations be placed into the building of schools so that each teacher can have access to their own classroom against having an open layout.
“We are hot and overcrowded. Buildings should be extended so that teachers and students can be comfortable”, she stated.
In response to this the President said that plans are in the pipeline to remedy this issue. He additionally provided some on-the-spot solutions to schools that have access to another building that is convenient to them to accommodate the large number of children on the school register.
As it relates to the curriculum and academics, recommendations were made to have the ‘STEM Programme’ promoted in the hinterland, specifically for students who are not academically inclined.
This concern was raised by a teacher of a school in Region One, who noted that following a fire, parents have hardly been sending their children to school and this programme can be further used as a skill to give the students a chance to make something of themselves.
A teacher from West Demerara Secondary was the centre of attention as he heaped praise for his school having a 96% pass rate in Mathematics and high pass rates in other subjects. He further noted the need for recognition of schools and teachers that have high pass rates in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
In this regard the President noted that the Ministry will be taking teachers with a 96% or more pass rate in their subjects to do a special training where they will the compile their methodologies used and share this with schools across the nation.
“Sometimes we get caught up celebrating the top students, which is important but the movement of the total is what’s important to me”, the president said.
The West Demerara Secondary teacher requested that the cash grant should be the students/teachers cash grant since teachers work assiduously on those days to share out monies to parents and get nothing other than a snack.
President Ali told the teacher, “You are not only a teacher but you are also a comedian”.
The need for better systems with regards to accommodating college teachers was the main concern of a Moruca Teacher, who emphasized they could not have gone forward with new trainees due to many things not being in place.
“If we confine, we will have quantity over quality” he stated.
He further went on to address the need for mental health forums for teachers. A request was made that all schools have persons equipped to provide mental health counselling.
Cotton Tree School teacher, Colette, made reference to the core issue of the need for an increase in teachers’ salaries. She also petitioned that teachers be given at least 20% of their gratuity instead of having to wait until retirement.
Following the announcement of the various issues affecting teachers, Ali provided a summary and assured teachers that a comprehensive analysis will be made of the issues to have them addressed factoring in the government’s budget.
“I am now in a better position to provide a holistic approach to addressing these issues and we will come up with a solution.”
Ali noted that the meeting with teachers was an opportunity for open dialogue with the aim of engaging directly with them to better understand their concerns and needs.
The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has vowed to continue pressing for its involvement in the discussions and to ensure that teachers’ interests are not overlooked in the decision-making process.
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, the GTU noted its disappointment with how yesterday’s session unfolded. Union President Mark Lyte said that the union’s executive members were not officially invited.
He noted that teachers had placed their trust in the union to represent their interests in discussions with the union and noted that the lack of direct engagement with the GTU was a significant departure from established protocols.
“We are not averse to President Ali meeting with teachers. Teachers have a voice but all these issues that teachers are raising are issues we have directly been raising for a while now and nothing was done to address it”, he said
