President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary Redman.
PRESIDENT of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary
Redman, reported that things went smoothly yesterday, after expressing
concern a day before that protocols agreed upon in good faith were not
followed by at least four secondary schools on Monday.
At that time she said two schools – Lodge School and St. George
Secondary – did not provide the personal protective equipment for
staff to carry out their duties safely. In fact, she was of the view
that had they turned up to work yesterday and not been provided with
the necessary equipment, the teachers should return home. She revealed
however that the masks were indeed provided for the teachers on
arrival.
Additionally, Redman expressed concern that none of the
representatives from the BSTU were allowed to go on the inspection
tour of the Princess Margaret Secondary School and therefore could not
guarantee the safety for the teachers. She said the inspection was
carried out yesterday. Additionally, concern about a subject at
Combermere scheduled for whole day instruction was also addressed. The
classes will end at midday.
Secondary schools were allowed to open from Monday June 8 to allow
students of CXC classes who have not completed their School Based
Assessments (SBA) and Internal Assessments for Caribbean Vocational
Qualifications (CVQs) to do so.