More teachers appointed

An additional 192 teachers have been appointed to the teaching service in Barbados.

Yesterday, the primary school teachers assembled at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College at 2 p.m, where they were presented with their letters of appointment during a ceremony attended by Senator Harcourt ‘Harry’ Husbands, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education; Permanent Secretary June Chandler; Chief Education Officer, Karen Best, and other senior education and personnel administration division (PAD) officials.

These teachers would have applied for the posts in the primary system back in November 2013.

Senator Husbands took the opportunity to offer his congratulations, and revealed that within the last year over 700 teachers were granted permanent positions.

“This is something that you demanded, that is something that your unions made noise for, this is something that you went to meetings and said you wanted. Now that you have it, the ball is in your court, the responsibility has shifted to you,” he stressed.

“The society in which we live now is quite different from the one that I lived in when I was appointed to the teaching service. The parents and the other stakeholders out there are asking you to be more accountable. They are going to say that you demanded appointments and there were over 700 appointments – so why is it my child cannot read…”

Best further warned the teachers against “slacking off” now having received their appointment letters.

“You were working very hard and were not appointed as yet. Don’t think for one moment because you have a letter of appointment that we can’t tell you anything. The Ministry has a Permanent Secretary who supports me very well, so when I have persons not doing what they are supposed to do, we know what to do…I hope you keep on the straight and narrow path. Let me hear about all the good things you are doing in our schools and please continue to do what you are doing,” she said.

Only last month, Minister of Education Ronald Jones presented 141 teachers with their appointment letters. (TL)