THE ANNUAL RETURNED The government’s promise that the new school year will start “as orderly and smoothly as possible” sounds more hollow than ever on the eve of the 2026-2027 school year. While acting President Gregory Russia and Education Minister Dirk Currie spoke in their ‘crisis meeting’ about emergency classrooms, placing children who have not yet found a school, and other basic matters, the engine of our education – the teacher – is still frustrated and deeply undervalued.
Educators feel systematically let down, despite all the expensive educational conferences and reports of recent months. A basic salary of SRD 12,500 for a fourth grade teacher is simply not sufficient and is in fact a deep insult. In the past school year, many parents have noticed more than ever that many teachers are no longer motivated to be in front of the classroom, which also has an impact on children’s academic performance.
“There must be a concrete and fair wage structure before October 1, otherwise actions will follow”
The frustration in the education sector is further fueled by the bitter reality that the government apparently applies double standards. What makes the ongoing negotiations on the salary structure of teachers even more painful is the recent commitment to nursing staff; After all, in order to stem the enormous brain drain in healthcare, Minister André Misiekaba of Health did pull his purse strings. At the end of November, according to the agreements, salaries for nurses will increase sharply to amounts between seven hundred and one thousand US dollars per month.
Although the much-needed revaluation of our healthcare workers is fully justified, this policy raises serious questions about the government’s priorities. After all, Minister Curry has very little to offer teachers. Why is money suddenly available for the healthcare sector, while teachers have to make do with vague promises and an inadequate salary range? The brain drain that is crippling healthcare is also taking place within education. Qualified teachers are moving en masse to the Caribbean or the Netherlands, simply because they can no longer support their families in Suriname.
The argument, often used by the government, that there is ‘no money’ no longer holds water after the injection in the healthcare sector. In any case, the divided education unions are fed up, there is now an ultimatum from the Joint Education Unions on the table: there must be a concrete and fair wage structure before October 1, otherwise actions will follow. The negotiations scheduled for these days are not just another round of consultations; they are a litmus test for the government.
After all, the interests of the students start with a motivated teacher in the classroom. As long as the government revalues one vital sector and leaves the other out in the cold, it will create its own social unrest and the new school year will head for a catastrophic false start, of which our children are in danger of seriously becoming the victims.
