President Irfaan Ali, in the absence of a Leader of the Opposition, today administered the oath to serve to the seven-member Teaching Service Commission.

The Constitution of Guyana stipulates that the Commission be made up of seven members with three of those members to be appointed by the President after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.

However, Guyana has been without an Opposition Leaders since the convening of 13^th Parliament in November, as the Speaker has refused to set a date for a meeting with the Opposition Members to elect a Leader of the Opposition.

In his address to the newly appointed Commissioners, the President did not address the issue. However, on the sidelines of the event, he told reporters that it was important for him to appoint the Commission even without consultation with the Leader of the Opposition as is required by the Constitution.

“It is an important constitutional responsibility that has to be executed. The minister came to me and explained the importance for the system itself, and I don’t want a new term to start without having the commission in place to make important decisions that would allow the quality of teaching to improve, and also allow more opportunities to be given to our teachers,” the President said.

He said whenever an Opposition Leader is elected, as the President; he will fulfill his constitutional responsibility but made it clear that with or without an Opposition Leader, the work of the Government must continue.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, in a statement, said the coalition had long warned that in that in the absence of an Opposition Leader, the President will move to make unilateral appointments in clear breach of the Constitution.

“This is precisely the kind of constitutional erosion we in the APNU have been warning about. A maturing dictatorship is unfolding before our eyes, fed and sustained by none other than President Irfaan Ali,” MP Mahipaul said.

The Opposition MP said the non-election of a Leader of the Opposition is no fault of the Opposition, as it is the Speaker of the Assembly, who was appointed by the Government and was one of the governing party’s candidates at the elections, who has been refusing to allow the election of the Opposition Leader to take place.

But in his address, the President said the Minister of Education Sonia Parag made a case for the Commission to be reconstitution, and in doing so provided a statistical analysis of the vacancies, and the need for promotions and other advancements with regards to the teaching profession.

According to him, there are 2,700 senior vacancies within schools across the country.

“Now, these are not senior vacancies that exist in the system in a traditional way, these are senior vacancies created also by this government so that we can have a more qualitative delivery of holistic education. Several new positions have been created to facilitate the faster, upward mobility to teachers and for teachers. As you know, teachers in the traditional sense had to wait all their lives, close to retirement to become a head teacher sometime,” the President said.

Additionally, the Education Minister has advised the President that a second deputy head teacher in Grades A and B secondary schools would be appointed. Some 60 second deputies are to be appointed.

The Teaching Service Commission, the President said, is entrusted with safeguarding the integrity, professionalism and fairness of the teaching profession, and was created as an independent institution to ensure that appointments, promotions and disciplinary actions are based solely on merit, fairness and process.

“An independent Teaching Service Commission helps safeguard professionalism, builds confidence among teachers that they will be treated justly and thereby assist in maintaining stable and high standards in national education. It is for this reason that the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana at Article 209 (1) of the Constitution vests the Teaching Service Commission with ‘the power to appoint persons as teachers in the Public Service, and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices,’” the President said.

Those appointed to the Commission are the Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain, Doodmattie Singh, Shafiran Bhajan, Joan Davis-Monkhouse, Lancelot Baptiste, Satti Jaisieriisingh and Mayda Persaud.  

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