The new school academic year started on Monday, when thousands of our nation’s teachers took to the streets in their respective regions to protest for better wages and benefits.
Given what is currently unfolding with regard to the current strike by teachers, uncertainty seems sure; for there are concerns, especially for those rife with expectation on both sides — teachers and students.
For the young minds, more so those entering high school, Monday’s moment was another stepping stone, and generally an eagerly anticipated one. It is not dissimilar for the teachers, as they look forward to welcoming their new batch to mould over the next year. It is also a time when their own success can be seen at different levels, as their previous batch takes another step in the process of advancement. Unfortunately, the stage seems very much unprepared.
There is no disputing the need for teachers to benefit from increased salaries, as other public servants should. With the focus currently being on the teachers, their plight continues to be played out for all to see. Their clarion call for much needed increases has reached the stage of strike and protest action, as negotiations remain unsuccessful. One of the uncertainties is how long this will obtain.
There is no doubt about the impact the strike will have, especially if it were to be prolonged. There is no argument over the important role teachers continue to play in the development of children and the nation, by producing the necessary human resource skill. The teachers are also part of that critical human resource, and like everyone else, have challenges, including having to provide for their own children who attend school.
To provide what it takes is burdensome for many, and removal of the education grant compounds the situation, as do increased taxation and the continuous rise in cost of living. This makes current salaries woefully inadequate to mitigate the increasing demands. To add to the ongoing situation, teachers and students who use public transportation will have to pay more for their commute, as increase in minibus fares took effect on September 1.
This will further squeeze workers who are already drowning in financial challenges to meet even the basic of demands in supporting their families.
Everyone who has to outfit a child, or children for some, knows of the economic difficulties in doing so. The teachers are no exception, and with additional transportation cost, their plight worsens. With that a given, there are other uncertainties: whether their salaries will be withheld during the strike period? How long the protest will be sustained? And what support mechanism is in place during the process?
These will be answered as time progresses, but a fundamental question remains: How can success be achieved if the salaries remain inadequate? More than likely, this will be vehemently articulated by the leadership of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) within the negotiating room whenever the sides find themselves back there. Therein lies the bottom line; for a nation to go forward, especially with the coming of oil, sustained academic success is vital.
The infamous and seemingly imposed brain-drain that plagued the country a few decades ago ensured a protracted denial of necessary skills for development. If current uncertainties as alluded, coupled with the worsening economic situation, were to continue, then it becomes extremely difficult to stop a renewed exodus of academic skills. That is why it becomes even more imperative that an immediate solution be found to address the short- and long-term fallout of this strike.
When workers are told that monies are not available for salary increases, it appears to be deceptive through the actions of the administration. This seems evident by the fifty percent hike in Ministerial emoluments; Government’s increased dietary, travelling and security bills; costs for numerous Commissions of Inquiry, and funding for projects like the imposing fence at the Ministry of the Presidency and Durban Park, which appear to have little or no impact on national development.
These scenarios not just fester uncertainty, but can infuse a deep sense of irrelevance through growing despondency in those who are the builders of society but are made to feel otherwise.
