Teachers are being made the scapegoats for the shortfall in the education system, president of the T&T Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA), Roustan Job, said.He was addressing TTUTA's 34th anniversary celebrations at the Centre Point Mall, Chaguanas, on Saturday.Job added the recent claim about teacher absenteeism by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh was aimed at detracting national attention from the many factors that led to a loss of teaching time.
He said factors included: Health and safety issues, fund raising, inadequate security, lack of support for teachers who have to deal with violent students, ministry sanctioned training programmes, failure to fill vacancies, replacement teachers for those on maternity leave, no proper functional system for substitute teachers and inadequate resources and supplies.
All these factors, he said, could be attributed to the ministry's failure to fulfill its obligation to the teachers and, as such, it was the ministry which should take blame for the shortfalls in the teaching service, since teachers could not be expected to operate efficiently under such conditions.He said teachers also have leave entitlements enshrined in existing legislation that was negotiated by the union over the years.
"These form part of the existing terms and conditions of service to teachers," Job said.Gopeesingh was carded to speak but did not show up. When that was announced, a number of teachers cheered while some jeered.Job also bashed the Continuous Assessment Component of the SEA exams, saying the programme was being rammed down the throat of teachers and learners.
He said calls to revisit the CAC approach have fallen on deaf ears. He said since last September, the ministry has been trying to impose elements of the programme, although teachers have warned about several of its deficiencies, including inadequate resources and materials and crash training for teachers.He said the CAC must be postponed until a well designed programme is put in place.
Job said TTUTA would stage its own consultation on the issue on April 27 at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's.Turning his attention to the early childhood care and education system, Job claimed the ministry was shamelessly trying to bully non-contract ECCE teachers into accepting inferior terms of service with no tenure and treating ECCE as caregivers doing "women's work" for a paltry sum of $2,600 a month.
He said TTUTA also wanted the upgrade of UTT graduates in the system to that of Teacher I, noting numerous teachers have been working since 2010 for low salaries.On the upside, Job said teachers were paid their new salaries at the end of March following salary negotiations and should collect salary arrears in June.During the ceremony, the union also presented bursaries in the name of past president Ulrich Loutoo to university students whose parents are teachers.
A special award was also given to Devanand Sinanan, the former first vice-president, who is now the principal of Palo Seco Secondary School.