The newly-elected president of the T&T Unified Teacher's Association (TTUTA), Davanand Sinanan, has named a few issues the union intends to address immediately.Among them are salary negotiations, the implementation of the continuous assessment component for primary school students and the indefinite closure of 14 schools down for repairs, which is at the top of its list.Sinanan said the union was concerned about that ongoing issue and blame must be put where blame was deserved."We are very concerned. Many of our schools are still closed and this is very disturbing but we must do some introspection to place blame where blame needs to be placed," said Sinanan.He said education was everyone's business and it was imperative all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Teaching Service Commission, parents and all others, come together to get to the bottom of the issue.
Last Friday, Kiran Shah, the chief operations officer of the Education Facilities Company Ltd, blamed late reports from school principals for the delay in repairing schools during the vacation period.Sinanan said a meeting was scheduled to take place yesterday at the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), UWI, St Augustine, to engage stakeholders on a discussion about school repairs.
The former first vice-president made the comment yesterday at TTUTA's head office in Curepe during the installation of the newly- elected national officers for the 2013/2016 term.
He told new officials the journey had only just begun and the role the union played in education was paramount."We will be taking this responsibility that has been reposed in us very seriously and we will be doing our utmost to abide by the constitution of TTUTA," he said.
He thanked former president Roustan Job and other outgoing officers for holding the "ship of TTUTA" together, saying they have steered TTUTA through some very turbulent times for so many years, having encountered so many challenges and issues where education was concerned.He vowed that the new members would continue the good work, ensuring that TTUTA was a significant force to be reckoned with in the education landscape and in the scheme of national development.He also thanked chairman of TUTTA's elections commission, Manchoon Sooknanan, for ensuring a free and fair elections. The elections was held on October 24."We would have gone through the election campaign and fought the battle but it is now time for us to close ranks. Elections are behind us and we have one TTUTA to lead and to take into the future," said Sinanan.He called on officials, both newly-elected and former members, to come together to ensure TTUTA continued to perform its duties effectively.
Newly-elected national officers of TTUTA
President: Davanand Sinanan
First vice-president:
Antonia de Freitas
Second vice-president:
Lynsley Doodhai
Third vice-president:
Martin Lum Kin
Treasurer: Gewan Durga