World Teachers’ Day: Some Schools get Managers Holiday today

In observance of World Teachers’ Day today, the Education Ministry has granted a Managers’ Holiday to a number of schools across the country.
A public notice from the Ministry’s Georgetown Department on Wednesday states, “in honour of our Teachers the Department of Education has granted a Managers Holiday on Thursday October 5th, 2023 in observance of World Teachers’ Day…”
According to the Education Ministry, this concession has been granted only to those schools that have applied for the Managers’ Holiday.
“On this day, the schools [mentioned below] will remain closed, and there will be no regular classes or school activities. We kindly request parents and guardians to make suitable arrangements for their children on this day. We appreciate your understanding and support in our efforts to embrace teachers as they celebrate World Teachers’ Day,” the notice detailed.
An official from the Education Ministry explained to this newspaper that once a school made the request for the holiday, it was granted.
The official noted that all the regions knew of the availability of the holiday and “quite a lot” of schools across the country were granted permission for the day off.
Among the nursery schools listed in the public notice are: Agricola, Albouystown, Alexander Village, Ascension, Bel Air, Carmelita, ‘C’ Field, Cummings Park, East Street, Gacestock, Happy Heart, Houston, JE Burnham, Liana, Lodge, Polly, Precious Jewels, Roxanne Burnham, Selman Fraser, Sophia, South Ruimveldt, Starters, St Christopher, Smyth Street, Headstart, Enterprise, Stella Maris and Turkeyen Nurseries.
Meanwhile, the primary schools are: Bel Air, Comenius, David Rose Special School, Enterprise, FE Pollard, JE Burnham, Ketley, North Georgetown, Smith Memorial, Sophia, South Ruimveldt, Stella Maris, St Ambrose, St Gabriel’s, St Pius, West Ruimveldt, Winfer Gardens, St Stephen’s, St Anne’s, Graham’s Hall, Rama Krishna, Redeemer, St Agnes, St Angela’s, St Margaret’s, St Sidwell’s, St Thomas Moore and Tucville Primaries.
For secondary schools, those granted the Managers’ Holiday are: Houston, North Ruimveldt, East Ruimveldt, Dolphin, Freeburg, Carmel, St Barnabas Special, Tucville, South Ruimveldt, Cummings Lodge, North Georgetown, The New Central High, Kingston, St Winefride’s, Charlestown and Richard Ishmael Secondaries as well as Kingston PIC, Sophia Special School and the Unit for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Only earlier this week, President Dr Irfaan Ali commenced consultations with teachers ahead of today’s observation of World Teachers’ Day.
He met with Head Teachers, Deputy Head Teachers, and education officials who travelled from across the country, on Monday at State House, where he listened to their suggestions about how the Government improve their welfare. Among the suggestions that came up for consideration were housing solutions specifically for teachers and tax-free allowances.
Teachers’ salaries were a significant concern, with one Head Mistress urging the Government to consider tax-free allowances.
President Ali announced that more than $700 million would 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,” the Head of State said.
“This correction would require an investment of $700 million 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.”
Meanwhile, several teachers from hinterland villages also spoke about challenges facing them and their students, including transportation and online access as well as shortage of teachers.
The President reminded that he gave instructions that once there are qualified persons for the teaching profession, they should be trained especially in hinterland communities.
In response to other queries, President Ali also proposed that the Government come up with housing solutions for teachers. He said the Government could 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, the Guyanese Leader noted the Government could explore solutions for teachers who have applications in the system prior to 2019. (G8)