Ministry insists handling of temporary teachers in line with normal practice

The Ministry of Education is insisting there was no room in the island’s schools for teachers whose contracts have not been renewed, despite claims by the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) that some schools will be short-staffed when classes resume next week.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry sought to clear the air on the reassignment of temporary teachers to nursery, primary and special schools, after calls by the BUT for spaces to be found for the more than 20 temporary teachers who had not been reassigned for this academic year.

BUT president Rudy Lovell had told Barbados TODAY that after meeting with ministry officials on Monday, his union was still insisting that the teachers whose contracts were not renewed last Friday should be reassigned, as their absence could lead to significant challenges when school begins.

However, the ministry said on Wednesday that some teachers who had been assigned to schools during the last academic year could not be reassigned at this time as the teachers they were filling in for had returned.

“As at September 11, 2023, 22 teachers, who had been assigned during the last academic year, remained to be assigned. This is due to the return of the substantive teachers who were on leave,” it said, adding that during Monday’s meeting with executive members of the BUT and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson told the unions that as openings occur, those teachers would be assigned.

Further explaining the non-reassignment, it said: “There were some schools where the class roll was very low and it was therefore considered that the teacher-to-student ratio was low, negating the need for the high number of teachers assigned to the school. Those teachers have been reassigned to other schools. Consequently, those teachers whose tenure was short-term could not be accommodated at this time.

“All these assignments would have ended at the end of the third term, July 14, 2023, or at the end of school year August 31, 2023. There have been no interviews for new assignments of temporary teachers to nursery, primary and special schools for this academic year.”

Adamson explained that temporary teachers are assigned to fill in when there are openings for a variety of reasons – such as retirements, resignations, term’s leave, sick leave, no pay leave, maternity leave, and study leave – and at the end of their assignments, evaluation reports are prepared by the principals at the schools where they taught.

“Once openings are identified and there are no adverse reports, the temporary teachers are issued contracts which detail their period of engagement. The contract states the start date and the end date of the assignment…. This year, the process of the reassignment of teachers was no different,” the ministry said, adding that the staffing needs of each school were reevaluated and it was in the process of assigning teachers.

The ministry promised that an update on the situation would be presented by the end of this week.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY following Monday’s meeting, Lovell said the BUT had been informed that some schools were short of the full staff complement. He expressed concern that would put additional pressure on the remaining teachers and could also hamper the delivery of certain programmes throughout the school.

“In some cases, four or more teachers are absent or missing from certain schools,” he said.

“If it’s necessary to have ‘X’ amount of teachers at a school and you don’t have that amount at that school, it can affect the delivery of education in a case where a teacher falls ill. It may lead to stress and burnout in some cases where persons may have to carry a heavier load than intended.”

However, he said the BUT hoped that the ministry will find a way to accommodate the teachers who have not been reassigned to help alleviate that pressure.

(BT)