Education, Science and Culture Minister Mary Levins (MinOWC) said in a conversation with the Suriname Herald that the teacher salary structure at the Teacher Training Institute (IOL) is being addressed. She could not work on this earlier, because the opportunity did not exist. Now that teacher training has been upgraded, there’s an opportunity for a salary upgrade as well, Levins says.
“I am already working on it. This way we will not only get people to teach, but then teachers can also get paid if they come to work with us,” says the minister.
Lecturers associated with IOL withdraw due to dissatisfaction. The wages they receive are low. Relates to well-qualified personnel moving to Anton de Kom University in Suriname or abroad.
The former director of the International Labor Institute, Robert Bennox, has long drawn attention to the wage adjustment. In a previous interview with the Suriname Herald, he noted that teachers are leaving IOL because they receive the same pay as secondary school teachers.
He called on the department’s leadership to address this matter. According to Peneux, the council’s proposal was already on the minister’s desk.
