Teachers should remain in profession until medically unfit – says Caesar to GTU

Jun 21, 2017 News

…but option to retire early is always available
From all indications, a number of recent changes made within the Ministry of Education have been attributed to the recommendations that resulted from a Commission of Inquiry [COI] into the public education system.

Chairman of the COI, Mr. Ed Caesar

This, however, is not the case, according to Chairman of the COI, Mr. Ed Caesar. But among the recommendations that Caesar would like to see implemented is one that would see the retirement age of teachers being pushed to 60.
Currently, teachers, like other public servants subscribe to a retirement age of 55 but Caesar is convinced that many teachers have a great deal of potential left in them after they retire. In fact he disclosed that several teachers after retirement seek employment and are readily accepted in very strategic areas.
But pushing the retirement age to 60, has not found favour in some factions including the Guyana Teachers Union [GTU]. President of the Union, Mr. Mark Lyte, for instance, had told this publication that the Union has essentially disassociated itself from the call for an increase in the retirement age.
He’d said, “We would never agree to this without taking into consideration all the facts surrounding this noble profession. Teachers are hard pressed in and out of the classroom both physically and financially with all the secretarial duties that are added to teaching in the last few decades here in Guyana.”
Added to this, he made reference to the fact that, “Teachers are sometimes not readily afforded benefits they earn and are often neglected by those who are expected to take care of their interest.”
Moreover, the Union, he said, is aware that “The majority of our members cannot wait to attain 55 to retire due to the stress this profession adds to their lives…a number of teachers are opting for voluntary retirement at 50.”
But according to Caesar in a belated response to the GTU, the recommendation, if implemented, will not make it mandatory for teachers to retire at the age of 60. Rather, he noted, “Teachers can retire as usual at the age of 55; nobody is saying that they must wait. If teachers wish to go before 55, if they would have gained their 33 and one third years of service they can retire; they can retire at 50. Nobody is holding teachers back to wait until 60; that is not the intent.”
However, Caesar shared that the remarks from the Union President has been a bother to him. “I am very concerned that he has said that some teachers are ready to go now. That is unfortunate if they want to go before 55 because we expect them to be working with our children to make our children develop,” said a perturbed Caesar.
He disclosed that many a times when teachers retire at the age of 55 they go on to seek employment and are readily accepted in demanding positions. But Caesar is of the view that, “It is better for them to work in the field that they are skilled in.”
Caesar is convinced that “Teachers should be given the opportunity to stay in the system until the age of 60 if they want to, and if they are medically fit and they want to go further they must be allowed to go further…We must give people choices, that is my concern.”
According to the recommendation of the COI, “If teachers are able to produce, annually, a clean bill of health they can continue to teach until the age 65.”
Increasing of the age of retirement is one issue that has to be considered by the Ministry of Education and its departments, according to Caesar.

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