Latest update May 10th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 11, 2015 News
…as court hearing on teachers’ promotion process continues
“Be patient, remain calm and trust your Union,” said President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, as he sought to appease the concerns of teachers whose promotions have been stalled because of an injunction secured by the Union against the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).
The matter was brought before Chief Justice Ian Chang last Friday (November 6) but was deferred to Tuesday November 24, at which point the lawyers for either side are expected to give their reports on the matter.
“I know that teachers are anxiously awaiting some kind of feedback on what transpired, but until then, we will know what more it will take to get to the end of the matter,” Lyte said, as he appealed to the teaching population of public schools to “remain calm and allow the course of justice to unfold its findings”.
“We are very confident that the ruling will be in our favour and it will set the tone for teachers to be treated better by both the TSC and the School Board Secretariat,” Lyte asserted.
The injunction secured by the GTU in effect resulted in the halting of the final teachers’ promotion list for the year 2015. The move in this regard was premised on the GTU’s concerns about the promotion process, which it believes is flawed.
According to the GTU, the TSC this year, and for years prior, deviated from written rules and regulations that govern the promotion of teachers in the public education system. As such, it has called for a complete review of the promotion process for this year.
The promotions of just below 100 senior teachers have been stalled because of the court proceedings. But according to Lyte, many more teachers had applied for other positions that the TSC from all indications had not sought to have filled.
“There were many vacancies that were publicised, but only a fraction of those vacancies were filled without any proper explanation as to why those teachers were not given the schools they applied for.
“We don’t want to believe that it was because the teachers didn’t meet the criteria. We want to believe that there were other factors that might have ruled against those teachers. They looked at the views and the comments of other officers and those didn’t always work in the interest of the teachers,” the GTU President said.
GTU, Lyte said, is convinced that the promotion process has been fraught with subjectivity on the part of the majority of the TSC Commissioners.
“We have an issue with the list and we have maintained our concerns,” Lyte noted, even as he pointed out that the TSC has acknowledged that it has not followed its own guidelines.
“They (TSC) are aware that it is in breach of the rules,” he added, disclosing that Chairperson of the Commission, Ms Leila Ramson, had suggested at a meeting on October 29 last, that the list should go through as is, this time around, and next year attempts will be made to address the concerns raised.
“They have been unfair to the teachers. To say that is what you have been doing over the years does not make it right; maybe over the years we have never been told what was happening,” said the GTU President when asked why the body was only this year seeking to raise its concerns.
Lyte informed that although the GTU usually has a nominee who functions as a TSC Commissioner, that nominee in the past might not have objected to the TSC’s process of promotion. But according to him, “Our nominee for this period did object to what TSC was doing, but the objections were not heeded.”
According to the GTU President, “Teachers have become so accustomed to how they are treated by TSC that they never even challenge the TSC, although they know that they were senior to somebody (teacher) who got a promotion. TSC has never been inclined to make any changes. As a matter of fact, if 40 people objected, they (TSC) only made one or two changes.”
“We are not in agreement with TSC deviating from rules now that we are aware of what is going on, and we have taken a stance to deal with this matter once and for all,” Lyte emphasised.
The Union President is convinced that had the TSC taken the time to review the applications, its final promotion list could have been completed by now.
“We were not asking for fresh applications, we were asking for a review to ensure that teachers were not disenfranchised based on the comments made by officials within their respective Regions,” Lyte said.
But even as the GTU’s concerns are being addressed through the court, Lyte said many teachers have expressed their own concerns about the situation.
“Some of the teachers would call and we have been engaging them one on one. I have given my numbers out to them, and I have explained to many of them the position that we are in. At Branch meetings we have deliberated on this too and explained to them what we hope to achieve. We have been speaking to them not only in person but through the various union reps.”
And Lyte expressed that once the GTU is able to win the case “we are hopeful that there will be a ruling that the teachers’ positions would be retroactive. Those who were identified for promotions…I am sure that will remain the same after the case; they don’t have to worry…they would not lose years or money, and once we win the case we are confident this would be the course of action.”
It is disgusting that our teachers have to protest in the streets for a…
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