Dear Editor,
One would have expected the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to have been more proactive than just voicing their concerns a few times in the media. The GTU have a few thousand teachers who are financial members, and they have easy access to parents. Recently, we saw School of the Nations, a private school, collecting approximately 14,000 signatures. Just imagine: ONE school can collect that many signatures, but the GTU, which have the ability to collect approximately ten times that amount in just one or two weeks, have been almost silent on the matter. Is the GTU afraid to use the masses at their disposal, or are they living in a small box?
Each school receives an Annual Grant (Money) from the Government each year. This grant varies according to the level of schools (Nursery, Primary and Secondary), and also according to the grade of schools (Grade A, Grade B, etc). For example, a Nursery School gets $ 131,000; a Grade C Primary School (Chateau Margot) gets 0,000; and a Grade A Secondary School (Annandale and Hope) gets 0,000. This grant is used to purchase stationery, cleaning supplies, and a few other items that the school needs. The grant given cannot meet the full demands of the school, therefore the PTA always has to assist in the best way possible; and those schools which don’t have a strong PTA to support them try to stretch their resources to make ends meet. Teachers are given a few pens, one eraser, one sharpener, one ruler, one or two markers, a few sheets of cardboard, and a few other items of stationery for the entire academic year, September to July (40 weeks). With VAT being chargeable on ALL stationery items, it simply means that 14% of the Grant will go to VAT, and less items will be purchased for the schools and circulated among teachers in schools.
If we use the figures mentioned above – which are given as grants – we will have the following results:
Nursery Schools will now pay approximately ,340 in VAT, leaving only approximately 2,660 to actually do purchases
Primary Schools (Grade C) will now pay approximately ,400 in VAT, leaving only approximately 7,600 to actually do purchases
Secondary Schools (Grade A) will now pay approximately ,400 in VAT, leaving only approximately 9,600 to actually do purchases.
Therefore, it’s either the PTA, which is funded by parents, who have to carry this huge burden; or teachers have to dive into their pockets to purchase more stationery items for themselves. It’s no secret that teachers also serve in the capacity as parents; therefore, the ‘Small Basket’ in which they are carrying their hard earned salaries will be almost empty before it reaches home to purchase food for their families. They, too, have to pay VAT on water, electricity and telephone services. They also have to find money to purchase new tyres for their vehicles; pay the increase on fitness and revenue licences for vehicles; pay the increase on gasoline, etc. Also, since the APNU/AFC Administration took office, teachers have not received their clothing allowances for two consecutive years thus far, 2016 and 2017 – a total of ,000 (,000 per year).
I am making a public call to the GTU to start a petition against this unthinking Government, to have VAT removed totally from Education. Teachers need representation for their monthly dues. GTU should plan a nationwide protest and/or strike, since this is a national concern.
Sincerely,
Suresh Singh
Young educator
