‘Remuneration will grow in the future’ – Jagdeo assures teachers

As part of “major plans” to improve the education sector in Guyana, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday promised teachers that they will enjoy better salaries in the future.

“Remuneration will grow in the future.

“We have to be balanced but in the future, it [teachers’ remuneration] will grow steeply,” Jagdeo said at a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) press conference held at Freedom House in Georgetown.

He also said the government has big plans to develop the education sector, inclusive of skills training for teachers.

Jagdeo offered these comments when asked about the ongoing imbroglio between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education.

Teachers went on strike at the beginning of the year, demanding pay increases retroactive to 2019. So far, it has been noted that there will be no compromise on the part of the Union to discuss only salary increases for 2024, as requested by the Education Ministry. The Union insists that negotiations must surround retroactive pay hikes for the period 2019 – 2023.

The Ministry of Education, however, maintains that there is no fiscal space to cater for increases for the period 2019 -2023. Only increases for 2024, the Education Ministry said, can be discussed.

High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon will deliver his ruling in the case brought by the GTU against the Government of Guyana next Friday.

The GTU is seeking, among other things, a declaration that the five-week strike was legal, that teachers are entitled to be paid for the time on strike and that the government was discriminatory to halt the deduction of union dues from the salaries of teachers.