Teachers are experiencing burnout, as they deal with the mostly new online teaching format over the last several months, poor student attendance and frequent internet connectivity troubles, Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) president Pedro Shepherd has declared.
These were among myriad issues that continue to affect the teaching profession which the Ministry of Education needs to fix if students are to close the learning gap created by the coronavirus pandemic, he told the BUT’s online radio show, Teachers’ Corner.
Shepherd said: “At the beginning of this term, it was raised and discussed, the possibility of having a break for both students and teachers. We are now into week seven, that break was supposed to come in week five. The Minister (Santia Bradshaw) did indicate at the beginning of the term that she would have taken the matter to Cabinet for a decision, we are now in the seventh week and we are yet to receive any word on this break for students and teachers.
“The BUT would therefore want to remind the minister that teachers are waiting to hear from her on this matter, as we are experiencing burnout at this stage.”
Though Shepherd acknowledged that training conducted by the education ministry over the last few months had eased the adaptation to the online format, he insisted that many challenges had still gone unanswered, leading to more stress and anxiety for teachers and students alike.
“What we do not appreciate is the fact that the ministry seems not to be taking our issues of stress with online teaching; the physical and psychological impact it’s having on our teachers, students and even parents, as they too are complaining, seriously,” Shepherd added.
Though he was pleased that the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination, normally held in May, has been pushed back to June 22, the BUT president warned that students won’t be fully ready for this year’s exam.
“I honestly, feel that the students have not been given adequate instruction for them to do the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination in a meaningful way,” Shepherd said.
Noting that in the past, parents sought transfers for their children for various reasons, Shepherd predicted the pandemic will add a further complication to the post-examination school entrance process.
He said: “How are we going to deal with parents who can now come with the excuse that they had devices late, they had issues with the internet, the teachers were not able to do as much as they would have done face-to-face… how are we going to deal with all of these issues after the examination?”
Shepherd insisted that BUT was currently monitoring the situation with all high school examinations including the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), with the union already forming a committee to meet with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and the Ministry of Education to resolve any issues that can affect this year’s sitting. (SB)
