Pres Ali begins talks with teachers: to consider tax-free allowances

– Govt to pay out $700M in salary adjustments

– to facilitate housing loans at special rates

By Jarryl Bryan

President Dr Irfaan Ali commenced consultations with teachers by meeting with Head Teachers and Deputy Head Teachers at State House on Monday, where he listened to their suggestions about how the Government can improve their welfare.
The consultation comes ahead of International Teachers’ Day on October 5. Among the suggestions that came up for consideration were housing solutions specifically for teachers and tax-free allowances.

During the consultation, concerns were also raised by the teaching professionals, particularly Head Teachers and their Deputies, who travelled from across the country. Teachers’ salaries were a significant concern. Donna Lewis-Isles, the Head Mistress of President Ali’s alma mater, Saint Stanislaus College, urged the Government to consider tax-free allowances.
“The teachers, we only get one salary. We get a big gross. But after deductions, we are looking thin. While the policemen and the military officers, look nice. Because they have all these little things like housing allowance, overtime, meal allowance, laundry allowance. A whole lot going for them. And I think we need to review that for teachers,” President Ali said.
“I know we are not travelling officers; we were always told that. So, we cannot have travelling (allowance). But we can have something else added to our salary. For example, we usually get a clothing allowance once a year, which is $8000. Can only buy a pair of shoes at this time. So maybe we can look at that. That would be a good start for us.”
President Ali announced that more than $700M will be paid out to those teachers who are below the minimum of their applicable scale.

“I had committed to ensure that the issue of anomaly that existed in the minimum wage applicable for different teachers in the system be corrected, retroactively from September 1, 2020 when the responsibility was given to me as President,” President Ali said.
“This correction would require an investment of $700M and I am committing to you that this will be, this $700-plus million, will be incorporated in the salaries of those teachers in October.”
Several teachers from hinterland villages also spoke about challenges facing them and their students, including transportation and online access. Meanwhile, another teacher from Kato Secondary School raised concerns about the school being understaffed.
With a required complement of 45 teachers, she revealed that there are only 15 teachers at the school. Asked by the President whether there are persons in the community who are eligible to be trained as teachers, she responded in the affirmative. At this point, the President reminded that he gave an instruction that once there are qualified persons for the teaching profession, they should be trained.
“I’m very disappointed in the Ministry of Education at this point. Because I gave an instruction that once you have qualified persons from the communities, in the hinterland, who want to enter the teaching profession, you bring them on with immediate effect. And we give them the opportunity to be trained. So, I want you to give us the list of all those persons who applied,” President Ali said.
It was subsequently revealed, however, that there are no pending applications from Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) for teachers. The teacher from Kato also raised the transportation woes plaguing teachers in the region. However, President Ali, while committing to addressing the concerns, noted that teachers on the coast also face their own challenges getting to and from work.

“Let me explain something to you because I think we need to explain this. Sometimes we get carried away, that the teachers on the coast don’t have challenges. So, the teachers on the coast, really, sometimes travel two hours to get to work or an hour. But in their instance, they use money from their salary to pay for public transportation to go there. Or they buy a motorbike or they buy a car or they own something.”
“So, it’s not that there’s a special thing that takes them to school and gives them a distinct advantage. So, everything has pros and cons. There’s weight to everything. So, I understand your circumstances. In the hinterland, we’ve been investing as much as possible in giving transportation, giving the hinterland special allowance for teachers working in those areas… but your circumstance we understand and we’re working towards it,” President Ali said.
In response to other queries, President Ali also proposed that the Government come up with housing solutions for teachers. He said the Government can make interventions to help teachers who already have an allocation but are struggling to secure loans/financing to pursue the development of their properties. Additionally, he said the Government can explore solutions for teachers who have applications in the system prior to 2019.