HGP Nightly News – The Guyana Teachers’ Union is not too pleased with the newly published 2026 Senior Promotion criteria, accusing the Ministry of Education of effectively erasing the value of classroom experience through what it describes as a “mathematical recalibration with profound consequences.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, GTU President Coretta McDonald laid bare the numbers that have ignited fury among educators across the country. Under the previous framework, trained teachers received two points for every year of service. A teacher with 15 years in the classroom would have accumulated 30 points, a significant advantage in any competitive promotion process.
The new formula? One point for every five years of trained service.
That same 15-year veteran now earns three points.
“What was once 30 is now three,” McDonald told reporters, her voice carrying the weight of a profession that feels profoundly devalued. “Experience in education is not just a number. It represents institutional knowledge, mentorship of younger colleagues, leadership within schools, and sustained classroom performance. You cannot reduce that to almost nothing and claim you are building a stronger education system.”
The Union’s critique extends beyond the numbers to the process itself. McDonald raised serious concerns about governance and transparency, noting that adjustments of this magnitude should have involved meaningful consultation with the GTU as the recognised representative body of teachers. Instead, amendments to vacancy notices have been issued through addenda, a practice the Union describes as opaque and dismissive of established protocols.
The timing could hardly be more sensitive. For nearly four years, promotional movement within the teaching service has been severely limited, leaving countless educators acting in senior roles without formal confirmation or the corresponding financial recognition. These teachers, who have carried the responsibilities of leadership without the title or pay, now face a promotions framework that appears to penalise the very experience they have accumulated while waiting.
“They have been acting, they have been leading, they have been holding the system together,” McDonald said. “And now they are being told that those years count for almost nothing.”
The Union is now demanding urgent action on multiple fronts: immediate structured engagement between the Ministry of Education, the Teaching Service Commission, and the GTU; a formal review of the experience-point allocation; reconciliation of the published vacancy list to ensure accuracy and fairness; and a renewed commitment to genuine consultation in education governance.
The underlying message from the Union is stark: diminishing the weight of professional experience sends the wrong signal to an already stretched teaching profession. It risks demoralising the very educators upon whom the future of Guyana’s children depends.
“The signal this sends is that experience doesn’t matter,” McDonald said. “That staying in the classroom, year after year, building your craft and serving your students, that counts for almost nothing. If that is the message, then we are not just fighting over a promotion formula. We are fighting for the soul of the profession.”
The Ministry of Education has not yet responded to the Union’s statement.
