Dear Editor,

It is a shame that the current administration, which is building so many schools and spending such large amounts of money to upgrade the education system, cannot support those that fight for the rights of the teachers. This is a government that Dr. Jagan built with the help of workers for the rights of workers. We must not turn our backs on the founders of the PPP. We must not uproot the very foundation of the PPP that garnered the support of the working class.

The extensive investment being made in the education system is supposed to be testament to the importance of education in the development of Guyana’s future. Why then is the government and the union which represents the teachers fighting over a service which the government previously provided? Is the government that vindictive? Is the union this unhelpful? The teachers had to strike to get a well-deserved salary increase when the government should have gladly and proactively provided an even larger salary increase to the teachers that we are all depending on to develop the human resources needed to drive the continued development of our Nation. The public servants did not have to go through the hassle, expense and disruption of a strike in order to get what the teachers fought for. Thanks to the sacrifices made by the teachers everyone has been able to gain a well-deserved and long overdue salary increase.

Is it too much to ask the GTU and the government to work together to ensure that our hard-working teachers are provided the service that they had before the strike. The service to help ease the payment of dues that are used to help teachers during hardships was already supposed to have been reinstated as previously declared by the court. Where is the compassion and where is the cooperative spirit needed to ensure that the government, teachers and the GTU have a productive and cooperative working relationship that will ensure that the quality of education received by our children is raised to the highest level? We must remember that our teachers go above and beyond to provide our children with the resources needed to effectively learn at school. We must remember that without the good will and good intentions of our teachers the beautiful new school buildings and expensive new teaching tools are useless. It should not be too much to ask the government to let go of the animosity that caused them to stop from aiding with the deduction of dues. It should not be too much to ask the GTU to provide a current list of their members to aid in the reinstatement of the process to collect dues.

The government and the GTU should be working together to make the lives of our teachers easier. It is time for all parties involved to set a good example of reconciliation and cooperation. An example that our school children who were affected by the disagreement between the union and the government can look up to and learn how to work together towards the building of a better Guyana.

Sincerely,

Jamil Changlee

Chairman The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana