“I don’t think people understand the job of a teacher. You see many persons talking about the holidays we get and we work from nine to three and five days a week. But it is not as easy as they assume.
“We are parents, counsellors, nurses and even doctors sometimes. Children come to school with myriad problems and we have to try and solve because of the number of hours they are with us. Now we are asking for a living wage and all of sudden we are the bad ones.”
The words of a striking teacher on the picket line last week. It has now been ten (school days) since the ‘slippers on the ground’ strike called by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) began. The teachers are weary but have vowed not to give up. Some have gone back to the classroom out of fear since the government has indicated they would not pay them for the days they are striking. I was on the strike line in Georgetown for a few hours and as I looked at the faces of mostly female teachers it was evident that they did not want to be the sun chanting. But I also saw people who were resolute and determined to make their voices heard. I saw friends and family alike and I felt the pain.