GTU pulls out from participating in schools’ assessment over vaccination concerns

Aug 26, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – With immediate effect, the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) announced on Tuesday that it is withdrawing from participating in the present assessment of schools and all other planned engagements with the Ministry of Education over the recent vaccine requirements put in place.

GTU President, Mark Lyte

The Education Ministry on Monday in a release encouraged those teachers who are yet to get vaccinated to use this period to do so before the reopening of schools. While encouraging teachers to get vaccinated, the Ministry also outlined that teachers who do not wish to get vaccinated, are required to submit a negative PCR test once per week. Those who do not report for duty will be marked as absent.
In response to this, the GTU said that it will withdraw its position until the release is retracted. “Our teachers were good enough to teach NGSA, CSEC and CAPE, mark NGSA, attend workshops and even participate in school preparedness assessments. Our members have called on us to act now in their best interest. We are not opposed to vaccination, but it must be voluntary,” the Union stated.
Commenting on this decision, the Union’s President, Mark Lyte, in an invited comment told Kaieteur News yesterday that from the inception the Union had stated it was against any vaccination mandate for teachers.
“We do not support that teachers are being force to be vaccinated…While we encourage them that is their personal choice…” the GTU President asserted.
According to Lyte, the Union will soon be taking several steps to indicate their disapproval of the arrangement made for the reopening of schools as it relates to teachers being marked as absent if they cannot produce a PCR test. This he considered would be extremely costly to teachers.
Lyte added that the Union has indicated to the Education Ministry that there should be more sensitisation and consultations for teachers. “We have indicated to the Ministry the need for more sensitisation, because of news of all these vaccine cases and different stories. People are saying they need to have more consultations, more talks with teachers so you know they can be comfortable with taking the vaccine…There should be a better system,” he added.