This week we asked the man and the woman in the street what they thought of the government’s plan to import Mathematics and Science teachers because of a shortage of teachers in the subject area. Their comments follow:
Zola Ifill, private sector employee – ‘I think it is a good initiative because my child comes home and say she does not do this and that subject because there is no teacher. But it is going to cause problems with the local teachers because of the payments.’
Rondley Thomas, private sector employee – ‘I don’t have a problem with them bringing in teachers but I think that in any job if you need to pay the employee properly if you want them to work. I think teachers will perform better if they are paid well.’
Robinson George, teacher in training – ‘I feel that it is not fair. Instead of bringing in teachers they should be looking at training more of those teachers at CPCE in the subject areas in which there is a shortage and they should improve the curriculum at the college for those subject areas so that you have your own teachers filling the gap instead of hiring overseas teachers.’
Theresa Dalrymple, businesswoman – ‘I think they have qualified teachers here to do the job all you have to do is take them and pay them and let them do the job. I don’t think we have a shortage we have a lot of qualified teachers but because of the salary they make they do not want to work here.’
Trevor Davis, public sector employee – ‘They should take that same money they are going to pay these overseas teachers and pay the Guyanese teachers here before they leave. My wife is a graduate teacher and it is difficult for her right now as a teacher because those who choose to remain are burdened with the task of educating the nation. Give the teachers a good raise. I think we do have qualified teachers but we don’t pay them to perform.’
Kevon David, GTI student – ‘I think it is a poor decision and unfair to teachers locally. Teachers should be treated with more respect and recognition. We do have adequate teachers I think but they need to be treated properly.’
Desiree Jones, cleaner – ‘It is a disadvantage to our teachers in Guyana because we do have Maths and Science teachers leaving UG and CPCE and I don’t know why they are saying we don’t have. I have a daughter who graduated from both levels. I don’t think it is right. They should pay the teachers here a better wage and they must use the systems similar to some Caribbean countries where teachers work part time teaching various levels.’
Desmond Trotman, WPA member – ‘I believe that the government is really facing a shortage in all subject areas. What they should be doing is examining the push factors that are causing our teachers to leave the country. If they look at the push factors then they will
find that teachers want to earn reasonable salaries and enjoy living standards which they feel are consistent with their expectations and to be able to provide the necessaries for their children something which they cannot do at this juncture. If the government insists on bringing these persons they will have to pay them wages and salaries and provide them with conditions that are not being presently enjoyed by teachers in Guyana and that I believe is discriminatory. I am quite sure that government in recruiting these skills will look not to the traditional countries such as England, the Caribbean for the requisite skills but they are likely to recruit from countries in Asia whose personnel will
pose severe problems for the students they will be relating to.’
Harry Persaud, pensioner – ‘It is a crazy idea to import Maths and Science teachers when we are training these people at UG, CPCE and other institutions. Pay the teachers properly and keep then here. It’s crazy also because who is going to want to come to this country where there is no water, blackouts? This is an election year and that is a political gimmick.’
Nikita Doodnauth, public sector employee – ‘I think it would be something good because I recently
came out of school two years ago and I had a hard time because we did not have a Maths teacher in the school and I did business subjects. If teachers here see that we have to resort to bringing in teachers then maybe they will buck up and try to do better thereby improving
their salary as well.’
