BUT admits to high teacher absenteeism due to ‘frustration’

Teachers have been staying off the job in recent weeks at many schools across the island, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) confirmed on Tuesday, blaming the educators’ growing frustration with the school system.

The revelation came following the latest work stoppage among public school teachers, when most of the 30-plus staff at the St George Primary School failed to report for duty on Tuesday, forcing the school to close and throwing the resumption of classes on Wednesday into doubt.

And BUT President Rudy Lovell declared the situation would soon reach a breaking point unless their employer, the Ministry of Education, moved to solve the problems.

“St George Primary School was closed [Tuesday] after a number of teachers reported ill today with only four teachers of the staff’s complement turning up for work. There have been a lot of issues in the past that were brought to the attention of the Ministry of Education that were not addressed. I am not sure if the concerns would have led to teachers feeling ill, mentally and otherwise,” he said.

“This adds to the list of teachers who are frustrated in this system. The ministry has taken the position that they are going to hire a stakeholder relations officer and a communications specialist while ignoring many of the issues brought to their attention by the union, principals and teachers in the system. This is frustrating members of the teaching profession. The frustrations are growing to the point where people are getting ill and I suspect that more people will get ill given what is transpiring.”

When asked to identify the teachers’ issues at St George Primary, Lovell said they were “too numerous to mention” but added that one involved plumbing problems and another involved a pigeon infestation of the school hall.

In recent weeks, scores of teachers at several schools – Lester Vaughan, St Giles Primary and The Lodge School – were not reporting for duty over apparent environmental issues.

Last term, St John’s Primary, Ann Hill School and Luther Thorne Primary were closed on several occasions due to environmental concerns. St John’s later closed indefinitely and students relocated to Mount Tabor Primary.

The BUT president said that he was also concerned that there appeared to be a new protocol when reporting issues to the ministry and that no formal correspondence was made to inform the union about the new procedure.

He said that trying to get hold of the chief education officer and other high-ranking education officials except the deputy chief proved to be difficult.

“We were not informed that the ministry had a communications specialist or a stakeholder relations consultant. We gained that knowledge through the media,” Lovell said.

“The union would not be communicating with any outside entity apart from those employed directly in education to address concerns regarding teachers. If the ministry does not see it fit to respond to our concerns, then the teachers would continue to get ill. There are two ministers in education, a chief education officer, two deputies, several senior education officers, [and] several education officers and you are adding to the list?

“You are hiring consultants and communication specialists when teachers don’t have resources to deliver instruction, some don’t even have chairs to sit on. Only the Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson is accessible but I can’t say the same for other high-ranking officials who should seek to have dialogue with the union, especially if there are concerns being brought to the table.”

The BUT boss said that it seemed the focus was being placed on education transformation and “all other things are taking a backseat when it comes to communicating with certain persons”.

“There are certain people dealing with education reform and that may render them unavailable, but I don’t see how that can be an excuse,” he added.

The ministry said it would respond to the situation at St George Primary in a statement but none was forthcoming up to the time of publication.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb