By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — As thousands of students and educators settle into the Christmas school term for the 2026–2027 academic year, persistent deficiencies within the physical learning environment have drawn sharp criticism from the leadership of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU).
Speaking on the sidelines of a picketing exercise, GTU President and Opposition Member of Parliament Coretta McDonald raised alarms over several unresolved structural and operational crises plaguing public schools across the country.
Chief among her concerns are excessively high classroom temperatures that cause pupils to fall asleep during instructional hours, unfinished dormitory facilities where students are reportedly forced to sleep on bare concrete floors, escalating student violence inside and outside school compounds, and an alarming wave of educator resignations from top-tier secondary institutions.
Sweltering Classrooms and Incomplete Dormitory Infrastructure
McDonald contended that despite multi-billion-dollar budgetary allocations directed toward the education sector, daily physical conditions inside classrooms continue to hinder effective pedagogy:
- Excessive Heat and Fatigue: The union president reported that poorly ventilated, sweltering classrooms are actively impairing student cognitive focus, with several learners becoming so fatigued by the heat that they fall asleep during instructional periods.
- Unfinished Dormitory Facilities: McDonald drew attention to regional boarding schools where infrastructural projects were commissioned before completion, forcing hinterland and rural students to endure unacceptable living arrangements.
- Sleeping on Bare Concrete: The GTU leader alleged that newly erected dormitory blocks lack basic furniture and bedding, resulting in children sleeping directly on concrete surfaces.
“We have also seen where there are schools where they have built dorms and the dorms are not ready, children have to be sleeping on the concrete,” McDonald revealed during the interview.
Escalating Student Altercations Strain School Administration
School safety emerged as another urgent issue, with the GTU highlighting a surge in physical altercations among secondary school students:
- Inadequate Discipline Frameworks: Teachers and school administrators are finding it increasingly difficult to de-escalate volatile disputes among students.
- Spillover Beyond School Gates: Violent confrontations are frequently spilling beyond school perimeters and onto public roadways, creating acute safety hazards for pupils, teachers, and commuters.
“I am concerned about all the fights that we are having in and out of schools,” McDonald emphasized, urging educational authorities to implement stronger behavioral and security interventions.
Staffing Crisis: 9 Teacher Resignations at Queen’s College in Two Weeks
Highlighting an accelerating brain drain from the nation’s premier secondary institutions, McDonald revealed that Queen’s College has lost nearly double-digit teaching staff within a single fortnight:
- Rapid Departures: Nine teachers resigned from Queen’s College across a two-week period, sparking serious questions about morale and working conditions across the wider teaching fraternity.
- Reasons for Departure: A source familiar with the developments confirmed that four of the educators resigned to pursue advanced academic studies, while a fifth stepped down to facilitate migration overseas.
- Fraternity Dissatisfaction: Regardless of individual circumstances, McDonald asserted that the broader attrition pattern demonstrates deep-seated frustration within the teaching corps regarding uncompetitive compensation, administrative friction, and deteriorating classroom environments.
“Queen’s College, nine resignations—so what is happening to our teaching fraternity?” McDonald questioned.
As the Christmas term advances, the GTU maintains that the Ministry of Education must urgently shift focus from ceremonial ribbon-cuttings to addressing immediate classroom temperature controls, furnishing regional dormitories, protecting educators from campus violence, and curbing the steady loss of senior teachers to migration and alternative employment.
