By Emmanuel Joseph and Sheria Brathwaite
Describing the last-minute reassignment and transfer of school principals and deputy principals as disruptive and creating confusion and dislocation, the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) has renewed a call for the Government to establish a Teaching Service Commission to deal with such issues.
President of the BSTU Mary Redman made the call as her union, as well as the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPSS) expressed dissatisfaction with the late notice given to several heads and deputies on Monday.
Twelve principals were assigned or reassigned along with 17 deputies but were only notified by the Ministry of Education a day before the start of the school term or, in some cases, on the same day.
“This degree of disruption at this point in time is not the norm in our system. It has caused confusion and dislocation. From time to time there are transfers of one or two persons; this number of transfers at the beginning of the school year is unprecedented,” Redman told Barbados TODAY.
She said the situation justifies the BSTU’s relentless call for the establishment of the Teaching Service Commission, provisions for which she said have been made in the Constitution since 1974.
The proposed commission would, among other things, deal with elections, appointments, promotions and disciplinary matters.
“I venture to say that had such a commission been in place, the prevailing circumstances would not exist, and the time has long passed for a Teaching Service Commission to be established so that it can address the needs of teachers in such an important sector in our society,” Redman said.
BUT president Rudy Lovell and BAPPSS president Stephen Jackman also expressed concern about the manner in which the educators were informed about the reassignments.
While congratulating those who got promotions, Lovell said the way in which those impacted were notified was “a major concern for the union because it may cause some disruptions in school the first week of the school term”.
Jackman, meanwhile, acknowledged that it would have taken some time to determine the best candidates from the scores of people interviewed during the nine-week summer holiday.
“We would hope that this never happens again, however, as it is difficult for people to be uprooted overnight,” he added.
The BAPPSS head made it clear, however, that in the interest of the nation’s children, “we will make it work and then we will have the relevant discussions with the authorities to see how best we make sure it doesn’t happen again”.
Redman told Barbados TODAY that some of her members who attended a meeting on Monday for teachers affected by the changes were told that the late notices came about as a result of the ministry being informed less than 24 hours prior to the start of the term.
“In fact, they were informed yesterday of the list of persons who had been successful in recent interviews carried out by the Administrative, General and Professional Services Commission – because, at that level, the level of principal and deputy principal, the interviews are done by that commission. So the commission engaged in interviews very recently with persons to fill the position.
“It is my understanding from some members at the meeting this morning, that the ministry officials only received the results of the interviews yesterday, and, therefore, had to apprise them and assign those people within less than 24 hours,” the union head reported.
However, Redman added: “Whatever the circumstances behind the late notices, it has really not created a productive environment at the start of the school year. The principals and staff and administrative staff would have already put their planning in place for the school year generally and for the term more specifically during the planning week. The fact is that you are now moving persons who now have to acquaint themselves with, and deliver new plans in, the new environment to which they have been assigned.”
Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw told reporters on Monday that ministry officials had acted as soon as the promotions were made known to them.
“Today we assigned a number of principals and deputy principals to various secondary schools across the island. We assigned 12 principals and 17 deputy principals. As soon as the Ministry of Education received notice with regards to the confirmation of the posts, we were able to meet and quickly thereafter make contact with all persons who were successful in the interview process,” she said.
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