Task Force set up to address teachers’ concerns

A High-Level task force comprising of Officials from the Ministries of Education, Public Service, Finance and Communities along with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) was today convened to address the GTU’s Multi-Year Agreement 2016-2020.

According to a joint statement from the Education Ministry, “the mandate of the task force is to examine outstanding problems with a view to their timely resolution and to propose a new, multi-year agreement between the government and the union. Statutory weekly meetings will be held.”

The statement said the task force comprises of Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson; Permanent Secretary (ag), Adele Clarke; Human Resource Manager, Jacqueline Simon and Legal Officer, Kelly-ann Hercules from the Education Ministry; former Chief Education Officer, Geneveive Whyte-Nedd; Political Advisor from Ministry of the Presidency, Frederick Mc Wilfred; Senior Personnel Officer of the Department of Public Service, Gail Williams; Finance Secretary, Dr Hector Butts; Ministry of Communities Permanent Secretary, Emil Mc Garrell; President of the GTU, Mark Lyte; General Secretary of the GTU, Coretta Mc Donald; GTU Treasurer, Samanta Alleyene and Administrative Secretary, Lancelot Baptiste.

Wednesday’s meeting was addressed by Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry who furnished the members of the task force with background information and relevant documents and announced that the task force will be chaired by Mrs Geneveive Whyte-Nedd.  She also urged members to be professional in their deliberations.

The work of the task force commences with the formulation of Terms of Reference (TORS) which should be completed within a week, the Ministry said.

The task force emanated from a meeting hosted between the Union officials and the Head of State on Monday, October 30, 2017. The government had agreed in the meantime to pay teachers an interim salary increase ranging from six to eight percent, retroactive to January 1, 2017.