As Guyana observes World Teachers’ Day, the country should move beyond the annual tributes to teachers and confront a more fundamental question: what kind of teaching profession is Guyana building, and what conditions are being created for teachers to educate effectively?
There has been significant investment in education over the years, including teacher training, infrastructure, technology and salary adjustments. The Government has also highlighted progress in expanding the number of trained teachers, particularly in hinterland communities. But persistent concerns over learning outcomes, teacher shortages, classroom conditions, professional development and industrial relations suggest that investment alone is not enough.
A World Bank assessment found that more than half of Guyanese students were not achieving 50 per cent in core subjects, while classroom-observation research found that only 7 per cent of teachers initially met the assessed standard for instructional practices.
Subsequent programmes improved that figure to 22 per cent, showing that professional development can make a difference—but also how much work remains.
The quality of teaching cannot, however, be separated from the quality of conditions under which teachers work.
Minister of Education Sonia Parag, marking World Teachers’ Day today, described teachers as having responsibilities extending beyond instruction to shaping confidence, character and the nation’s future.
“I have always believed that when a teacher enters a classroom, that teacher is not just an instructor,”
That recognition must extend to how the State treats teachers as workers and professionals.
Respect for teachers must include respect for their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is the recognised organisation representing teachers, and meaningful collective bargaining should not be treated as an inconvenience to be managed but as an essential part of a functioning education system.
The 2024 teachers’ strike and the ensuing court battle exposed serious tensions in that relationship. High Court Justice Sandil Kissoon found that the Government had substantially interfered with the constitutional right to collective bargaining and freedom of association. He also ruled that the decision to stop deducting and remitting union dues violated teachers’ constitutional rights.
In January 2025, the Court of Appeal refused the Government’s application for a stay of the order requiring the continuation of the deduction and remittance of GTU dues. The substantive legal dispute has continued, with the GTU maintaining in 2026 that the dues have still not been remitted.
Whatever one’s view of the 2024 strike, teachers should not have to surrender their right to organise in order to be heard. A strong education system requires an independent teachers’ union capable of representing its members, negotiating collectively and holding the employer accountable.
The same principle applies to wages.
The Government and GTU signed a 2024–2026 agreement providing for salary increases of 10 per cent in 2024, eight per cent in 2025 and nine per cent in 2026. President Irfaan Ali described the agreement as providing a 27 per cent direct salary increase over the three years, alongside improvements in allowances and other benefits.
Paying teachers decent and predictable wages is not merely a labour issue. It is an education policy. A profession that demands university qualifications, continuous preparation, classroom management, marking, administration and responsibility for children’s development must be sufficiently attractive to retain experienced educators and recruit talented young people.
Dr. Karen Abrams, educator, founder and Executive Director of STEMGuyana, has captured the broader importance of teachers:
“A good teacher does not simply deliver content. A good teacher changes trajectories and we see this reflected repeatedly in real lives.”
That is precisely why conditions conducive to teaching and learning must be treated as seriously as curriculum reform.
Teachers need functioning classrooms, adequate instructional materials, electricity and connectivity, manageable workloads, professional development, safe schools and meaningful support when dealing with difficult student behaviour. They also need a promotion system that rewards competence and experience and a professional environment in which they can raise concerns without fear.
What Guyana should do
Guyana should establish a national teacher-development framework built around continuous training, mentoring and classroom support; provide stronger incentives for teachers in hard-to-staff hinterland communities and shortage subjects; strengthen school-based support services; ensure transparent promotion and evaluation systems; and institutionalise regular, good-faith consultation between the Ministry and GTU.
Most importantly, the Government should respect collective bargaining, honour agreements it signs, comply with court orders and ensure that teachers’ union dues are handled in accordance with the law.
World Teachers’ Day 2026 is being observed under the theme “Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures.”
Standing with teachers must mean more than ceremonies, speeches and appreciation messages. If teachers are expected to shape Guyana’s future, the nation must create the conditions in which teachers can do their best work—and treat their professional rights, dignity and voice as fundamental to the education system itself.
