Low turnout at Georgetown schools on day five of teachers’ strike

Feb 10, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – There was a low turnout of both teachers and students at several city schools on Friday as the nationwide teachers’ strike continued for the fifth day.

The St. Joseph’s High School located on Woolford Avenue.

The North Georgetown Secondary School also located along the Avenue.

The North Georgetown Primary School, located along the Woolford Avenue which had a few teachers and students present in the building on Friday.

On Monday, teachers from nursery, primary and secondary schools began a nationwide strike and protest action demanding better wages and working conditions through collective bargaining.

As the protest exercise unfolded on Friday and teachers lined the front of the Ministry of Labour’s Brickdam offices in their numbers, Kaieteur News visited several schools throughout Woolford Avenue and around the city to observe the impact the strike has made at these learning institutions.

While some schools had classes in session, schools such as the St. Gabriel’s Primary, North Georgetown Primary School, St. Joseph High School, North Georgetown Secondary School, Richard Ishmael Secondary School, Stella Maris Primary School, The New Central High School, Ketley Primary School just to name a few, were affected as the attendance from students and educators were severely low.

At one of the schools, one of the security guards related to this publication that a few students had trickled into school on Friday.

While assessing the situation at St. Joseph’s High School and the North Georgetown Secondary just

The St. Gabriel’s Primary School which had a low attendance on Friday.

after 10:00hrs on Friday, just a handful of teachers were seen while students who attended were sitting and ‘liming’ just outside the building during teaching hours.

On a quick stop at the North Georgetown Primary School, some classes were in section, while some had only the teachers present but barely any students. Also during teaching hours, there were two teachers in a classroom by themselves on their phones, while a few students were in the yard playing.

At the Richard Ishmael Secondary, a group of teachers were observed sitting and chatting in the compound of the school, while some students were in preparing for the Mashramani activities.

At the St. Gabriel’s Primary, one could hear a pin drop as there were hardly any students in attendance but just a few teachers present. A similar situation was observed at Stella Maris Primary.

Schools such as Ketley Primary School, and the New Central High and the St. Mary’s High which are two schools housed in the same compound saw little to no turn out when compared to a normal school day.

The Stella Maris Primary and Nursery schools on day five of the teachers’ strike.

Meanwhile, a teacher from the Graham’s Hall Primary who requested to remain anonymous related to Kaieteur News on Friday that the school was practically empty as most teachers have been on strike and had joined the protest on Brickdam during the week. As a result, she said students have been staying home while some only attended school during the morning.

Kaieteur News had previously reported that a similar situation has unfolded all week long at different schools in Regions Two, Three, Five, Six and Ten. It is unclear when classes will be back to normal at those schools as teacher’s on strike are still awaiting government to engage them on the issues they have raised during the ongoing strike.

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Georgetown, low turnout, students, teachers, teachers strike

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