Heads of departments requested for information on teachers' salaries
Information pertaining to increases in salaries for teachers and professional staff of the technical and vocational institutions as a consequence of the recent tribunal award is required from the relevant heads of department, so the Office of the Budget can begin processing it. The tribunal was constituted after an increase in salaries could not be agreed on between government and the Guyana Teachers' Union. They then moved to arbitartion and the award was made on August 30. According to the terms of reference payment had to be made within 45 days of the announcemnet of the award. Payment will not be effected within the scheduled period as the deadline has already passed. However, a circular from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education dated October 14 said that the information pertaining to the increase must be submitted urgently by the relevant department and institution heads, so that it could be processed by the Office of the Budget to allow for payment to begin as soon as funds were approved. The circular said that the Ministry of Finance would be approaching the National Assembly soon for supplementary provision to meet the payments. It noted, too, that the Finance Ministry could not meet increases for this year from the national budget for the year 2000, and as such the Ministry was asking that heads of divisions and departments ensured that all teachers were paid their increase, including back pay, from funds which would be provided in 1999. The circular was sent to all Regional Executive Officers, Heads of Divisions in the Ministry of Education, Regional Education Officers, headmasters and headmistresses of nursery, primary, community high, secondary schools and practical instructional centres, the Assistant Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Georgetown and the principals of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), the New Amsterdam Multilateral Institute (NATI), the Linden Technical Institute (LTI), the Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE), the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC). Meanwhile Administrator/Field Officer of the Guyana Teachers' Union, the teachers' bargaining agent, Lancelot Baptiste said that the circular from the ministry should not come as a surprise to those concerned. Baptiste said that they should have begun to prepare the relevant information required from the time the award was announced. He anticipates that all monies would have been paid to teachers by the end of November. An inaccuracy with regards to increases for head teachers on the TS: 5(B) scale was also corrected in a memorandum of the same date as the circular. Instead of the 10 per cent previously announced for them, the increase is 12 per cent and should read TS: 5(B) $37,465 x 616 - 40,545. Those who fall in this category are non-graduate head teacher, Grade E; non-graduate head teacher, Grade `C', nursery; and lecturer 1 of NATI, GTI and LTI. According to the award teachers on the TS 1 scale to the TS 5(A) scale will receive a 10 per cent increase and teachers from the 5(B) scale to the TS 19 will receive a 12 per cent increase. Also receiving a 12 per cent increase are the Principals of the GTI, CPCE and NATI who are in a `Special' category. Their salary will now be $79,587 as against the $71,060 which they previously received. Graduate head teachers of sixth form schools, vice principals of the CPCE, NATI; deputy principals of GTI, NATI and LTI; administrators of GITC and the Burrowes School of Art (BSA); and the principal of the CSHE are all on the TS 19 scale of $70,517 - $75,956. The previous salary scale was $62,962 - $67,818. A graduate head of a Grade `A' school is on the TS 18 scale of $66,718 - $71,850 while a graduate head of a Grade `B' school is on the TS 17 scale, $62611 - $67,744. A graduate head of a Grade `C' school and a Grade `A' nursery is on the TS 16 scale, $58,507 - $63,640. The junior teacher and teacher aides who previously received $11,445 on the TS 1(A) scale will now receive $12,590; the acting teacher will now receive $13,207 on the TS 1(B) scale while the temporary unqualified assistant will get $14,000 - $15,584 on the TS 2(A) scale. The trained teacher, temporary qualified 1, the assistant lecturer at the GTI, LTI and NATI; technician III of NATI, GTI, LTI, Instructor II at the CSHE and the GITC are among those on the TS 3 scale whose salary will range from $27,239 - $30,999. A graduate who has not been trained at the teachers' training college (untrained graduate) will be on the TS 6 salary scale of $37,647 to $42,083. A trained graduate and lecturer I at the CPCE and an instructor 1 at the Burrowes School of Art are now on the TS 8(A) scale of $42,083 to $46,190.
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