-greater emphasis now on academic qualifications than teaching experience
Although the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) says there is little it can now do to reverse this year’s senior promotions, it is warning that the Ministry of Education’s revised promotion criteria could leave schools in disarray when the new academic year begins in September.
“We can’t do anything right now, because the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) did not act on its own; they act on what is presented to the TSC,” GTU President Coretta McDonald told Kiskadee Watch yesterday. “Before it was the ministry and the GTU who put the list together and put together the criteria. This time around the ministry decided they would do it on their own.”
McDonald said the union’s concern is not with the TSC but with what she described as the Ministry of Education’s unilateral decision to alter the promotion criteria without consulting its longstanding partner.
“You never informed the teachers you are going to make this rapid change. In the middle of the game you made the change,” she said.
Under the revised promotion criteria published by the TSC, significantly greater emphasis is now placed on academic qualifications than teaching experience. Teachers receive one point for every five years of service after attaining trained status, a reduction from the previous system under which trained service attracted two points per year. Academic qualifications now account for the majority of available points, with a bachelor’s degree earning 14 points, a postgraduate diploma six points, an education management qualification eight points, an advanced postgraduate diploma 10 points, a master’s degree 15 points and a PhD 18 points.
McDonald argued that the change has disadvantaged many experienced teachers who were unable to pursue higher qualifications because opportunities were not always readily available.
“The focus this time around was entirely based on qualification and not experience,” she said. “Teachers trained for years, but because they don’t have a master’s, even with many years’ experience, they cannot compete because experience now carries only one point for every five years.”
She said the union has consistently encouraged teachers to upgrade their qualifications but noted that many veteran educators were constrained by a quota system that previously limited enrolment at the University of Guyana.
“When the University of Guyana was not free there was a quota system attached to schools. Many teachers who wanted to upgrade had to wait because of the quota system,” she explained. “If the ministry was on the path for qualification as opposed to experience, it should have given teachers enough time to equip themselves with the necessary qualifications.”
According to McDonald, the changes have left many teachers feeling disenfranchised despite decades of service under often difficult conditions.
“It is being very disingenuous to the nation’s moulders who have been committed in spite of poor salaries, parents and students assaulting teachers and the ministry coming down on teachers. They remained committed. We find this very heartless to the teachers,” she said.
While acknowledging that the promotion process has already been completed, McDonald warned that its effects will likely become evident when schools reopen.
“The union is concerned that come September we are going to have a few things happening,” she said.
She predicted that some classrooms and subject areas could be left without teachers as experienced educators seek other employment or leave the profession.
“There might be classrooms with no teachers or subject areas without teachers. There will be a depletion of staff,” she said.
She also warned that many junior teachers who have recently been promoted will now supervise educators with decades more classroom experience.
“There is going to be lots and lots of junior teachers now becoming the supervisors and administrators for teachers who have been there for decades. That will pose problems in terms of interpersonal relations in schools and will affect the smooth delivery of education,” McDonald said.
She further predicted that experienced teachers who are eligible for retirement may choose to leave the profession rather than continue under the new system.
“You are going to have disgruntled teachers who are going to apply for early retirement once they are 50 years old, and so out the door goes our experience. With teachers who are inexperienced, there will be chaos,” she said.
“Teachers who have not managed at the senior level now being placed at the senior level will again create confusion in the system. They would have to learn to settle in and function and will slow up the smooth functioning of the schools.”
Erased
One veteran secondary school teacher, who requested anonymity because she fears repercussions, said she was among many educators who believe the revised points system has effectively erased decades of professional experience.
After 33 years in the classroom, the graduate senior mistress said she was overlooked for the deputy head position at her school despite holding a University of Guyana degree since 2005.
“The point system puts teachers like me at a disadvantage,” she said. “Those who just have 10 or 15 years and they did the GOAL scholarship got more points than me.”
The teacher said she had deliberately stepped aside during previous promotion exercises to allow colleagues nearing retirement an opportunity to improve their pensions and gratuities.
“I gave two teachers a chance at the headmistress position because I felt they were close to retirement and should have that opportunity,” she said. “Now it is my last three years on the job and I felt disappointed when I saw the promotion list—not just because I didn’t get the position, but because I know it will affect my pension and gratuity.”
She said the successful applicant was a younger teacher whom she had previously taught.
“The position I applied for has been given to a very young teacher that I taught in the system who is now the deputy of my school,” she said.
According to the teacher, similar concerns have been expressed by many experienced educators who hold bachelor’s degrees but not postgraduate qualifications.
“It is not me alone,” she said.
While supporting opportunities such as the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), she argued that they should not come at the expense of veteran teachers who pursued qualifications when opportunities were far more limited.
“We all recognise the efforts by those in authority to make higher education affordable, but it should not come at the expense of teachers who struggled to acquire their qualifications the hard way,” she said.
She maintained that experience remains a critical component of effective teaching and school leadership.
“Experience is the ultimate teacher, transforming mistakes into wisdom and hardship into character,” she said, adding that some younger teachers with advanced qualifications still struggle with classroom management.
“I never expected to find myself in this position after so many years,” she said. “I would like them to review the system and review the promotions. You cannot take away teachers’ years of experience.”
The GTU had previously urged teachers not to apply under the revised promotion process as part of its protest against the new criteria. However, the veteran teacher said she nevertheless submitted an application in the hope of securing a higher pension before retirement.
Earlier the GTU signalled that it was prepared to consider industrial action, including a strike, if the ministry failed to review the revised promotion criteria and engage the union. The union had argued that the new system reduced the value of teaching experience while giving significantly greater weight to academic qualifications and had called for the process to be paused pending consultations.
The Ministry of Education has said that it will comment on the issue following completion of the promotion exercise. The GTU, however, says the consequences of the changes are only beginning to emerge and fears that schools will bear the impact when the new academic year begins.
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