Ministry failed in “divide and conquer” quest – Union

Jun 21, 2016 News

---

—Speaks out about ‘no consultation’ norm

A “divide and conquer” tactic was being attempted by the Ministry of Education in order to deal with

appalling conditions at the Brickdam Secondary School against which teachers recently protested.
At least this is the conviction of General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Ms. Coretta McDonald. The General Secretary said, yesterday, that the Union intends to stand resolutely behind its teachers who have decided to resist the tactic that was last week being employed by the Ministry.
A variety of concerns at the school, including deplorable washroom facilities, defective lighting and other infrastructural concerns had forced the teachers of the school to engage in protest action. The Ministry, in response to the concerns raised by the protesting teachers, decided to close down the school and transfer teachers and students to various schools.
Both teachers and parents were opposed to the Ministry’s decision.
According to McDonald, “Based on transfer letters issued by the Ministry some teachers were being asked to go to St Rose’s, Christ Church, North Georgetown High, Queenstown, Lodge Secondary, David Rose— all over the place they were sending them…teachers and students.”
It is McDonald’s suspicion that the Ministry recognised the strength of the teaching staff because they stood their ground harmoniously and therefore wanted to separate them.
“What they attempted to do was to divide the staff by scattering them all over the place, so the staff went back to their original position to remain at the school until the end of the school year (July 8). Come September they (Ministry) will have to find somewhere for them to go,” related McDonald.
According to the General Secretary, “After we recognised what was happening we said no, no, we don’t want to be divided. The parents also held unto that and said that they don’t want their children to be scattered all over the place.”
The end result was a decision for both the teacher and student populations remaining at the school. However, part of the building, which is said to be especially harmful to life and limb, will be closed off. The section that will be utilised will facilitate end of term examinations.
According to McDonald while the Union is not happy to have the teachers remain in an environment that is not conducive for learning, “we have decided that we are going to stick with our teachers. The teachers said that ‘we will remain here and work even though it may not be the right thing to do’ and we have to back them on this one,” asserted McDonald.

LACK OF CONSULTATION
According to the General Secretary, the Union is troubled by the actions of the Ministry since no effort was made to consult with the Union ahead of deciding to relocate the teachers and students. The Union is having a difficulty with this development, McDonald said.
“If there was a plan in place and they wanted to do something I thought that it would have been best to consult the Union. In addition to that, they should have a teachers’ representative there to say ‘ok yes we agree with our Union with this, and this is the position that the teachers have’. But these decisions were made just unilaterally and then the teachers were informed about the decision and so was the Union.”
McDonald yesterday observed that failure to consult with the Union seems to have become the standard mode of operation embraced by the Ministry.
“Recently we recognised that this has now become a norm where the Ministry would do things and then inform the Union. It is not something that we take very kindly to. We have talked about it a lot of times and on each occasion we are being promised ‘the next time it will be the opposite, we will consult with you before…’”
The Union’s concerns in this regard is expected to be brought to the fore when the Union convenes an upcoming Professional Committee Meeting with the view of having the Union absence from consultations with the Ministry be corrected.
This issue is one that was raised at the ongoing Commission of Inquiry being spearheaded by the Ministry. According to McDonald, “The GTU as an important stakeholder on many occasions is not consulted. We are not consulted on issues with regards to education but we are expected to play this major role to say, ‘yes GTU has been there.”
“What we find is that very often when it is convenient to the Ministry, when it is beneficial to them then they make themselves available quickly to speak to the Union but when there are issues that the Union regards as being important we have all kinds of setbacks…We are told next week, tomorrow, day after tomorrow and if something comes up they can’t meet today.”

---

---