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First week of teachers strike
– Students attendance at West Demerara schools cut by half
Kaieteur News – As the dust settles on the first week of the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU)- led strike, its impact on the public school system on the West Demerara has been evident.
Crane Primary School
Attendance at several nursery, primary and secondary schools on the West Coast and West Bank of Demerara was cut by half as a result of the ongoing industrial action.
This publication paid a visit to several schools in the West Demerara district, where it was observed that since the start of the week, the attendance of students has been dwindling.
Kaieteur News was able to witness firsthand at several schools several empty classrooms. At Windsor Forest Primary, Kaieteur news was told that half of the desk and benches at the primary school remained vacant for most of the week.
“We have been making do with the staff and students that we have coming out… there is nothing that we can do if some teachers want to strike,” a staff member asserted.
At Cornelia Ida Primary, this publication was greeted with a similar situation.
A teacher explained that the school population of over 400 pupils has been affected due to some teachers not being present.
Classroom attendance has been affected at Windsor Forest
An empty classroom at Cornelia Ida Primary school
“We have been keeping tabs on the attendance of both our teachers and students as you can see our doors are open but not everyone has been in attendance as they should,” the teacher at the school pointed out.
Dem Amstel Primary was severely affected as the teachers there likened the lack of attendance to “a ghost town.”
“We have three teachers but no students since Monday, the children hardly coming to school,” a teacher asserted.
The Vreed en Secondary School
While some pupils at the Hague and Windsor Forest Nursery Schools attended school , Kaieteur News was told that their attendance was somewhat affected.
“There was a slight decline first but then we saw the children started to come out back…,”a staff told this newspaper.
At Crane Primary School, it was clear that based on the school population of 281 pupils, that the regular attendance had been affected by the strike. Kaieteur News was told that some of the teachers are still going to work.
“We are working and the children are coming out..,” a teacher said. This newspaper was nonetheless able to deduce that based on the number of students present that the attendance was affected.
Given that the class sizes at Leonora Secondary School are significantly smaller now, teachers have resorted to merging the classrooms to make up the population to teach.
A teacher said “Some class sizes are more than thirty students on regular day; we have seen less than 15 students for some of those classes this week.”
At Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary, the school was almost empty expect for a few teachers present. It was noted that some teachers and a majority of the students have not been in attendance since the start of the week.
The teachers at the school declined to speak with the media but noted that “you can see for yourselves what we are dealing with; the attendance and the condition of the school.”
West Demerara Secondary School saw a higher turn-out than most of the other schools. However, even with the turn out, the attendance has been scanty in comparison to a regular school day.
Teachers who were present at Patentia Secondary School appeared guarded, not wishing to comment on the size of their staff or attendance of students.
This newspaper was still reliably informed that most of the students in attendance were those preparing for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams. On Friday, teachers and GTU representatives concluded their first week of protest action in front the Region Three Education Department West Demerara.
The protest action is expected to continue on Monday.
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