Teachers in Guyana form a crucial part of preparing our youngsters for the future and deserve our support

As a teacher with over 34 years of classroom experience and, in a previous life, as a Social Studies Chairperson with the responsibility for supervising over 23 teachers in a New York School District, I can say with confidence that a classroom teacher is not just an instructor and provider of knowledge. An effective classroom teacher wears many different hats. On any given day, a teacher plays the role of educator, mediator, social worker, disciplinarian, nurse, mentor, councilor, coach, parent, cheerleader, and psychologist - all in one. Teachers in Guyana form a crucial part of preparing our youngsters for the future - particularly at this juncture when we have the resources to invest in this profession to create visionary leaders.

The current teachers’ strike is no doubt influenced by political considerations, on both sides. Strikes, by their very nature, are political. The PPP is probably suspicious about the historical role of urban-based unions, and Coretta A. McDonald, the General Secretary of the GTU, does not help when her statements refer to the “installed” government. Guyana needs to heavily invest in its teachers, in order to create educators who are sages on the stage. That means, among other things, investing heavily in teacher training, utilizing innovative technology, and respecting labour agreements, among other things. Teacher performance is certainly a main criterion for the retention of teachers, and that is what should be looked at more carefully when this strike is settled.

As I said on the Globespan show on Wednesday, teachers deserve our support, and collective bargaining is the way forward (or “mediation,” as Justice Sandil Kissoon ordered).

Cheddi Jagan would have found a way out of this impasse, in a manner that benefited the teachers – and in the long run – beneficial to our students.