GTU and Education Ministry’s relationship wanting – GTU President

Jun 29, 2016 News

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The relationship between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education has not been ideal, and based on recent development it is likely to become especially strained. In fact, GTU President Mark Lyte shared his conviction that the relationship between the two entities “can never be considered cordial any longer.”
This state of affairs, according to Lyte, is linked to measures taken by the Ministry on the heels of recent industrial action by teachers of the Brickdam Secondary School. The measures, Lyte said, are tantamount to the Ministry disrespecting the Union and, according to him, “we want to know when this disrespect will cease.”
Lyte told this publication that not only has the Ministry not involved the Union in addressing the concerns of the school, but a directive has even been issued to prevent union executives from even venturing into the school without permission from the Ministry.
The administration at the Brickdam Secondary has reportedly been instructed that nobody from the Union should go to the school without a letter from them (Ministry), Lyte related.
But according to the GTU Head, “we have not had that kind of agreement or arrangement with the Ministry at any time when it comes to visiting a school.” The Union is tasked with representing the interest of public school teachers throughout the country.
As such, Lyte said that the Union is prepared to take this matter to a “higher level” to find out what has led the Ministry to come up with such a position. “Even if I go there (Brickdam Secondary), as the President of the Union, I have got to get a ‘pass’ from the Ministry…we are saying that that is unacceptable; that is not something we want to see happening,” asserted Lyte.
Lyte disclosed too that following the recent industrial action taken by teachers of Brickdam Secondary to protest deplorable conditions, the Ministry had started to take actions that appear intended to victimise the teachers.
In response to the industrial action, the Ministry had issued transfers to teachers and students. However, the Ministry’s decision to transfer did not find favour with the teachers and parents of students attending the school.
The Union as well as teachers of the school were convinced that the Ministry was on a “divide and conquer” mission.
“What they attempted to do was to divide the staff by scattering them all over the place, and so the staff went back to their original position to remain at the school until the end of the school year (July 8) and come September, they (Ministry) will have to find somewhere for them to go,” the Union’s General Secretary, Ms. Coretta McDonald, had related.
But according to Lyte, since the industrial action the Ministry has had officials visit the school every day.
“Every single day two or three officers are in the school and prior to that incident they hardly saw any officer. So teachers are very uncomfortable with these officers. We feel as though it is an attempt to try to intimidate the teachers,” said Lyte, even as he pointed out that the teachers, after coming to an agreement with the Ministry, were assured by the Principal Education Officer that they will not be victimised.
“In no region are officers required to visit any school every day. Sometimes they go once a month, or once and far, but to have these people every day at your school it is a clear case that the Ministry is out to victimise our members and the Union is very upset about that and that comes right on the heels when the disrespect was shown with regards to having a press conference without the teachers’ representative present,” Lyte added.
The Ministry, according to Lyte, held a press conference on the Brickdam school situation, but failed to extend an invitation to the Union.
Just recently, McDonald observed that failure to consult with the Union seems to have become the standard mode of operation embraced by the Ministry.
“Recently we have recognised that this has now become a norm, where the Ministry would do things and then inform the Union after. It is not something that we take very kindly to and 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’…”
It is expected that when the Union convenes an upcoming Professional Committee Meeting, this development will be brought to the fore with a view of having the lack of consultations, on the part of 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,” McDonald related.
The course of action by the Ministry, according to the GTU President, has essentially served to create “a bad relationship between us and them.” And he informed that the Union is prepared to take necessary action to reverse the discouraging trend.
Speaking specifically of the Brickdam secondary school’s issue, Lyte said that “we are saying this is uncalled for. This is a clear case that the Ministry wants to silence this Union and silence our members, and we will not be silenced. We will find other innovative ways or we will seek audience with a higher authority even if we have to speak with the president (David Granger) on this matter.”
“We are saying this should not be and this has all come about because teachers stood up and said their environment is unfit and they are not prepared to work in that environment. Why is it that people have to be forced to work in an unsafe environment and when they speak about it they are being victimised?” asked Lyte.

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