Teachers headed to Queen’s Park next week

The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is set to meet again next Wednesday if they are still unable to secure a meeting with the Minister of Education, Ronald Jones, to air their grievances; but this time in Queen’s Park.

 

The decision to hold the mass meeting within earshot of the Ministry of Education came yesterday afternoon following a meeting at the Union’s Merryhill, Welches, St. Michael headquarters, which was attended by about 700 teachers. 

 

From early yesterday morning teachers converged at the headquarters, braving the sun and heat to be updated on the correspondence received from Minister Jones in response to their request for a meeting, and for the chance to raise concerns with their trade union.

 

It was then just over one-and- a-half hours that they spent listening with rapt attention to their President, Pedro Shepherd, who in addition to indicating that the Union is disappointed in Minister Jones and feels that he should relinquish his post, raised the issues of the poor state of schools, the lack of resources and the need to have religious education take on a major role in schools again.

 

Speaking yesterday morning to the media right after addressing the membership, the President hinted at the possibility of a meeting being held in Queen’s Park, suggesting it would not only give the Ministry the opportunity to “see the strength of the teachers” but allow the public too to hear how teachers feel about the issues going on in education, and the society in general.

 

His comments came as he also reiterated his call for the Education Minister to ask to be relieved of his duties.

 

While Jones remains in that post however, Shepherd made it clear the Union is willing to meet with him, but the union boss feels that based on the comments written by the Minister in the correspondence emailed to the Union earlier this week, which allegedly suggested that the good faith cannot be renewed, it would appear that he is not prepared to meet with the BUT. With that in mind, Shepherd said that if his presence at any such meeting would be a problem he is prepared to sit it out.

 

“If he [Minister Jones] wants to meet with the teachers in my absence I have no difficulty, I have a Vice President who can chair, because I really don’t need to prohibit the Minister from saying what he has to say about the President of the Barbados Union of Teachers or about teachers generally. So if he wants me to recommend somebody to chair the BUT’s delegation whenever we meet, fine, I don’t have a problem,” he stressed.

 

Questioned as to his views regarding the plans to set up a special committee within the Ministry of Education to deal with violence, the BUT’s president dismissed it as being probably “another NACE” and “frankly another waste of time”. But, he said, persons should give it a chance to work.

 

“But if is going to work like the National Advisory Commission on Education and meet once every two or three years and then when recommendations are made they are not followed through with, then it would be just another committee. But we want things done… rather than set up a committee at this stage, the Minister needs to come, meet with teachers and understand what the real issues are,” he contended. (JRT)