Several ongoing and persistent problems including the issue of appointments of teachers and violence in schools will be on the agenda when members of the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU) meet today at Solidarity House.
In a statement released to the media, President Mary-Anne Redman said that to a significant extent these and other matters of concern to the BSTU are not being afforded the level of attention and importance from the Ministry of Education that they deserve. As such, she said the BSTU is willing to do what is necessary to change that approach.
She further indicated that the meeting expected to start at 1 p.m. this afternoon is the first of two meetings scheduled for this academic year. She explained that the avenue will allow teachers the opportunity to air their concerns and highlight any issues which they believe the Executive should focus on, so as to remain effective and relevant in fulfilling their needs, and to hear from the Executive how they intend to address those issues.
“It is the start of a new academic year and to this end, as a Union we need, among other things, to plan for the safety of our members and for their professional development and well-being. These have implications as they have the potential to affect our members’ responses to the many issues affecting their jobs, the impact of those issues on their ability to perform at maximum levels and the avenues of response to those issues that are available to us as a Union,” she said.
To that end, the Union boss said that in addition to appointments of teachers and the many anomalies surfacing in that process at some schools; violence in schools including the methods of deflecting, coping with and reacting to violence of various types, as well as safety and health issues; they are also expected to look at the docking of teachers’ pay for attending Union meetings. This issue surfaced when members of their sister union, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), had in some instances, two days pay docked, after attending meetings called by the BUT last term.
“We intend to look at the actions of the Ministry of Education and to what extent they were legal and in keeping with the custom and practice,” she told The Barbados Advocate yesterday.
Redman further told this newspaper that the matter of school-based assessments (SBAs) remains on their front burner. The BSTU has long contended that teachers are not adequately compensated for correcting the SBAs, which they insist are the property of the Caribbean Examinations Council. She added that the BSTU’s position is gaining support regionally, and this is based on some decisions that were taken at the last executive meeting of the Caribbean Union of Teachers.
Also expected to engage the teachers’ attention today will be plans to celebrate the BSTU’s 70th anniversary and the activities to recognise the upcoming Teachers’ Professional Day. (JRT)
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