GTU proposes plan to enlighten teachers of “rights and responsibilities”

Jun 04, 2015 News

Even as the Guyana Teachers Unions (GTU) gives assurance that it is prepared to work collaboratively with the Ministry of Education, its President, Mr Mark Lyte, is proposing the implementation of a plan aimed at ensuring that teachers are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities.

GTU President,
Mark Lyte

This tactic, according to Lyte, will warrant a strategic training programme organised by the Ministry with the support of GTU. “We can share training experiences with teachers so that we can have a better education system. For example if we are given air time we can get experienced educators who can come and talk about values, code of conduct and they can even share about why a person should choose to become a teacher; what does it take to become a teacher…we can even talk about the rights of teachers,” asserted Lyte.
And ‘teachers’ rights’, according to the GTU Head, is a crucial subject that must be given some keen attention. He is adamant that if teachers are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities, there is likely to be an improved education system where teachers will be willing to “step-up.” “We have asked for access to air time in the past but we have not been given that,” lamented Lyte.
Currently, he disclosed, that some teachers are not aware of their basic entitlements. He made reference to teachers seeking to pursue further studies, but are not fully aware of how to go about applying for no pay leave, or even how to benefit from available scholarships. “A teacher may not know what channel to use…Some people are in the profession for years and still don’t know how to go about doing some very basic things,” observed Lyte.
His conclusion is based on discussions the GTU has had with teachers overtime, allowing it to become increasingly clear that many of them have not been educated about the basic things governing their career. And according to Lyte, some of them are swift to inform that “we don’t know, we never heard.”
For this reason, he asserted that the Education Ministry with support from GTU, could bring into being the strategic programme to help teachers gain a better understanding of the profession.
Among the facts that teachers should be aware of, is that their service can be recorded as terminated if they opt to leave the system without giving adequate notice. “You have to give notice in advance otherwise you will be fired…all these little things we tell our teachers, because it has implications if they want to rejoin the profession. If you did not do it the proper way, it is likely that you wouldn’t be able to get the job again,” Lyte noted.
He however pointed out, that if a teacher leaves with requisite notice, he or she can return and even be afforded their former status. “All of these things we can disseminate through a sensitisation programme for teachers. It could be very helpful but it has to be a collaborative effort between the Ministry and the Union,” asserted Lyte.
The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) last year dismissed 113 educators. Of the lot 60 teachers failed to give adequate statutory notice. This means that these teachers would have opted to leave the public education system without giving ample notice. Based on their appointment contracts, teachers are expected to give at least one month notice ahead of resigning. And once a teacher fails to give the requisite notice, he or she is then dismissed by the TSC, a state of affairs the GTU is hoping to guard against through the proposed sensitisation programme.