Resident trainee teachers who are attending the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) are set to receive a 66 per cent increase in their stipends.
This is according to President David Granger during his address on Thursday at the inaugural teachers’ conference.
The Head-of-State noted that he would have recently met with education officials and the administrators of CPCE and instructed that the stipends should be increased.
Although he did not specify when the increases will take effect, the President explained that larger sums of monies are to be pumped into the education sector, after first oil next year.
“We do expect increased revenues from petroleum after 2020 and much of it will go to the Sovereign Wealth Fund but I have announced publicly that a significant portion will be devoted to public education”.
Underscoring the crucial role that teachers play and the importance of their training, he noted that education standards would decline unless there is a core of trained and qualified teachers capable of upholding the standards that are expected.
“Teacher training is vital to preparing our educators for the role which they are expected to play in ensuring quality and inclusive education for all…I presented only last week, more lab equipment donated by the People’s Republic of China to the CPCE which is responsible for training teachers”.
Additionally, the President said that plans are also in the making to focus on having teachers benefit from tertiary education, in the future.
“Every teacher also will have an opportunity to attend University and to benefit from improved teacher training. Educators are the sinews of the education system. They are central to achieving the aims of education, which are to produce graduates equipped with the knowledge, skills and values not only for their own personal development but for national development…”
On Saturday, October 5, Guyana will join the rest of the world in celebrating World Teachers’ Day 2019. However, on Friday, public schools throughout the country will be closed to allow teachers to have the day off ahead of World Teachers’ Day.
