After months of talks: Education Ministry, GTU agree on 27% salary increase for teachers over 3-year period

After months of negotiations, the Education Ministry and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) reached an agreement on Wednesday regarding salary increases and other benefits for educators over the next three years. Under the new agreement, teachers will see their salaries rise by 27 per cent by 2026.
The 2024- 2026 multi-year agreement for teachers’ salaries and benefits was signed by Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain, the Education Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union Dr. Mark Lyte and its Vice President Julian Cambridge – ending months of intense negotiations.
The agreement mandates that teachers receive a 10 per cent increase for this year, 8 per cent for 2025 and 9 per cent for 2026.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali highlighted that there is also an adjustable clause in the agreement, which stipulates that if a higher percentage increase is announced for the general public service, teachers will also benefit from the difference.

On this point, the Head of State underscored Government’s unwavering support for teacher’s welfare, noting that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration will continue to set aside resources for development projects.
“My government remains strongly committed to our education sector revolution, modernisation, and transformation. And in that commitment, the development of our teachers, the improvement of their conditions of service, both from an infrastructure perspective and from a personal development perspective is a priority in the agenda of transforming our education system… This, of course, is important as we expand secondary education in the hinterland, as we build new schools. We will need more teachers to go into remote areas because we want our education system to cover all of Guyana and the children of Guyana to have access to education at every level, regardless of where they live,” Ali said.
Aside from the agreed salary increase, the multi-year agreement also includes several non-salary benefits for teachers.
The Remote Area Incentive (RAI) has moved from $9,000 in 2023 to $23,000, an increase of 156 per cent.
In addition, teachers who hold doctoral degrees will receive $32,000 monthly, while those who have a Master’s degree would receive $22,000 monthly, and holders of a Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate in education would now receive $7,000 and $5,000, respectively.
Further, scholarships would be increased by 100 per cent annually, which will see 70 educators securing free scholarships for Diplomas in Education and 30 securing Masters in Education through the University of Guyana.
According to President Ali, these benefits and many more to be provided to teachers are for the first of its kind being offered by any government of Guyana to educators.
“So, looking at the complete package and all that we have given, you can see that our teachers will enjoy a welfare package and that is why we said it’s not only about salary increases, it’s a welfare package that will bring tremendous improvement to not only their salaries, but their comprehensive package that they will receive. We are pleased, as a government, that we have been able, through our commitment to our teachers, our children and education, and the education sector, to work with the Union in arriving at this agreement,” he added. A number of other non-salary issues were addressing including clothing allowance, duty-free concessions, housing benefits, and health coverage.
Earlier this year, teachers across the country had gone on strike for more than 70 days, demanding salary increases and benefits for teachers.
The strike ended on June 21, with the GTU and the Education Ministry agreeing to facilitate talks on the multiyear agreement. (G1)