BUT members say no to early return to work

Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) members have voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal by the Ministry of Education to call out teachers a week earlier than scheduled, for sensitisation and professional development training related to pending educational reform.

While Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw confirmed in a statement on Thursday that “no official correspondence from the ministry has been shared with school principals or unions related to adjustments to the time required for planning”, the BUT has made it clear that officials should not expect the hundreds of teachers represented by that union to turn up for any early training, should it be finalised.

Reporting on the emergency online meeting on Thursday night, BUT president Rudy Lovell told Barbados TODAY that teachers voted against a September 4 instead of September 11 start of their planning, ahead of the September 18 start of the new school year.

“However, they voted in favour of the recommendation placed on the table by the executive of the BUT, to have the planning week split in two…. The first three days of the planning week [September 11-13] being used for planning and the Thursday and the Friday, along with the following Monday [September 18] being used by the Ministry of Education to embark on their education transformation training,” he said.

When it was pointed out to Lovell that September 18 was the scheduled date for the resumption of classes, he replied: “That doesn’t mean anything. Last year, the ministry called a meeting on the first day of school on the planning week to talk about a summer nutrition programme.”

Lovell and his counterpart from the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary Redman say they have not received any correspondence from the ministry to date, although they have been made aware of the proposal.

In her statement, Archer-Bradshaw said the ministry continues to engage with its partners in education about the way forward as it relates to all structures and processes in education.

“In keeping with this practice, we embarked on meetings and consultations this week with secondary school principals, the teachers’ unions and the primary school principals on the time required for planning for the academic year 2023-2024. No official correspondence from the METVT [Ministry of Education, Technical and Vocational Training] has been shared with principals or unions related to adjustments to the time required for planning.  We will continue to consult with our partners and officially update all stakeholders on the outcome of the consultations accordingly,” she said.

Redman had told Barbados TODAY on Wednesday that while she does not support “late notice” of an early start to work for teachers, it would be irresponsible of her to advise BSTU members not to adhere to a request from their employer to turn up for duty.

“Technically, the school year starts on September 1 as the Education Act states. The problem is that, of course, if this is supposed to be the final arrangement, then it is coming very late… and, of course, it is going to have a disturbing effect on any plans that teachers might have made for their non-teaching time up to September 11,” she said.

“Technically, when teachers are on holiday, they are on call…. We are still on call…. and once it does not impact our 38 weeks of teaching time – because the Education Act states clearly that the school year consists of 38 weeks of teaching time – . . . the Ministry has the wherewithal to call us out to training during our non-teaching time, which was what was indicated to me was going to happen.”

“My problem is the late notice and the plans that teachers would have made for their non-teaching time, separate and apart from the fact that, technically, the school year starts on September 1 and we are supposed to be ready for the start of the school by September 1,” Redman added.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb