Latest update January 15th, 2025 3:34 AM
Whyte-Nedd commences leave, not appointed as Chief Ed. Officer
As was predicted by many who came out in solidarity with her, Acting Chief Education Officer, Ms Genevieve Whyte-Nedd will retire in that very capacity, never being able to savour the benefits of a substantive appointment.
According to reports reaching this newspaper, Whyte-Nedd, who had offered little or no comment on the issue of her appointment or the lack thereof, had reported to normal work but was informed via correspondence that she should proceed on leave owed to her.
Genevieve Whyte-Nedd
This newspaper understands that Whyte-Nedd would be up for retirement this year having acted for several years in the capacity of Chief Education Officer. The leave, according to reports, will strategically tie into Whyte-Nedd’s date of retirement. In the meantime, reports suggest that another individual has been appointed to the acting position in Whyte-Nedd’s stead.
Several persons, including the union fraternity, had voiced concern in various forms about Whyte-Nedd’s non-appointment.
It was just last year that President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Gillian Burton, in the company of union members, had staged a picketing exercise outside the Education Ministry on Brickdam, in this regard. Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, in an invited comment had revealed that the appointment of the senior officer does not come under the purview of his Ministry, but rather the Public Service Commission (PSC). He related that Whyte-Nedd’s situation is not only evident in the Education Ministry, but in several other Ministries as well.
According to Patricia Went, Industrial Relations Officer within the Guyana Public Service Union, which represented Whyte-Nedd, the senior officer will lose a considerable amount of financial benefits, as a result of not being appointed before retirement.
Went had disclosed the obvious fact that once the acting official is not appointed as the substantive Chief Education Officer she will not be able to benefit from the pension and gratuity of the substantive position. Whyte-Nedd, Went revealed, had acted in the capacity of Chief Education Officer three times between the period 2000 and 2004, and continued acting in that capacity when the position became vacant in September 2005. And it was in 2005 that Whyte-Nedd opted to apply for the position but yet was not appointed, Went recounted.
The GPSU as a result had written to the PSC but no response was forthcoming at that time, according to Went.
In fact, she related, several letters were written to both the Education Ministry and the PSC as regards the non-appointment of Whyte-Nedd.
As a result, “at a (GPSU) general council meeting we moved a motion to write to President Bharrat Jagdeo about our concerns about persons who were acting in the Public Sector… at that time, too, the Head of Customs and the Commissioner of Police were acting,” Went had divulged.
Went had revealed that the Minister of Education in response to a letter about Whyte-Nedd’s non-appointment had stated that the matter was being addressed, while the PSC in a separate response noted that the matter was engaging the attention of the Commission.
“I really cannot say why she has not been appointed because she is qualified for the position,” Went had stated. Among Whyte-Nedd’s academic credentials are a Masters in Education, a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, a Certificate in Management and Supervisory Practices, a Certificate in Nursery Education, a Class One Grade One Trained Teacher Certificate. Whyte-Nedd has over the years held the positions of District Education Supervisor, Regional Education Officer, and Assistant Chief Education Officer.
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