Significant increase in trained teachers recorded – Education Ministry

…99% of local teachers trained or in training

The Education Ministry had reported a significant increase in trained teachers over a three-year period.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry, a total of 10,000 teachers were in the public education system when Government assumed office in August 2020, but that number has grown to 14,000, with a total of 2000 in training.
Additionally, it was revealed that over 188 teachers from the hinterland graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in 2023, which represents a 488 per cent increase when compared to the 32 teachers from the hinterland who graduated CPCE in 2019.
Overall, some 1796 teachers from the hinterland and coast graduated from CPCE in 2023.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand told journalists on Tuesday that with the massive expansion of the CPCE Guyana has been able to achieve an average of about 99 per cent trained teachers.
“Thirty per cent of our teachers right now, the increased number of teachers are training further for degrees, masters and PhDs… And their training for free at no expense to themselves, because the Government is paying for it, and that can’t be discounted as nothing,” the Education Minister said.
According to the Education Minister, getting to 100 per cent trained teachers may take some more time since there are few instances where it would not be practical to ask older teachers in the system to get formal training now. Instead, she said those teachers were being supported otherwise.
She added that with this deliberate policy decision, coupled with improved access to training opportunities, the Guyana Government has been able to ensure that students have access to a higher-quality education.
“Now what happens when you are trained as a teacher, when you’re trained as a teacher, you’ll get a better salary, you have better chances at promotion and leadership in your school. You have more opportunities to go on to do further tertiary training like on the GOAL programme. We believe expanding the teacher training college was a game[changer] and will be shown to be a game changer in the education system. And so, we’re very, very proud of this particular achievement,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Minister also spoke about the suite of incentives being rolled out to improve teachers’ welfare in Guyana. Those incentives include increased allowances, scholarships, and duty-free allowances; specifically: the correction of all teachers’ salaries with effect from September 2020 at the cost of more than $700 million to the granting of a $10,000 allowance to all teachers with a university degree, the granting of a $6000 allowance to all teachers with a post graduate diploma, the granting of a $20,000 allowance to all teachers with a master’s degree, the granting of a $30,000 allowance to all teachers with a doctoral degree, the payment of all graduate teachers at the highest level of their respective skills, and the provision of more than 3800 scholarships to teachers.
Further, to continue the issuance of 50 duty-free concessions per year for teachers, the granting of a duty-free concession to all senior teachers who have three years left to serve and have not previously received a concession and the provision of grants to purchase teaching materials at the cost of $3.1 billion for 2024 alone. (G1)