Education Ministry and GTU reach agreement on salary increases for teachers

The Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union this afternoon announced that they have reached an agreement for salary increases for teachers.

Under the new agreement, which covers the years 2016 to 2018, teachers will now see a 12% increase on their salaries for 2016, an 8% increase for 2017 and another 8% increase for 2018.

Additionally, $350 million has been set aside for debunching, which will cover the years 2011 to 2018. The issue of debunching was one that was being looked at since under the previous government but was never settled. The two sides have now ended that long wait.

Additionally, the two sides have agreed to all of the non-salary benefits. Details of those benefits will be released soon.

In a joint statement, the Education Ministry and the Guyana Teachers Union said the agreement will be signed next week and it covers increases for all scales of workers.

“Having considered the new information provided, which included salary benefits for all scales of teachers ranging from TS1 to TS19 and Special and non-salary benefits, the two parties concluded discussions and have committed to the implementation of the agreement. The three-year 2016 – 2018 agreement will be signed in the new week. There was an amicable settlement for the matter not to proceed to arbitration”, the two sides said.

Both the Education Minister and the President of the Guyana Teachers Union expressed satisfaction with the agreement.

Minister Nicolette Henry said every teacher in the system will be a beneficiary of the new agreement. The previous offers did not cover all teachers on all the scales.

The GTU President, Mark Lyte, said the agreement will bring lots of satisfaction for the teachers.

Moving forward, the Education Minister said she is looking forward to the Ministry and the union working closer together on issues related to the nation’s teachers.