Representatives of the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) and the National Primary Schools Principals Association (NAPSPA) yesterday refused to attend a stakeholders meeting with Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly to discuss the planned reopening of schools in September, claiming they were disrespected.
The scheduled session went on as planned from 4 pm and lasted for approximately two hours and those present included representatives of various denominational boards and other national education-related associations.
The discussions centred around the physical reopening of schools as the new academic year 2021/2022 will begin on September 6.
The 51-page draft document titled “Guidelines for the Reopening of Schools” was disseminated to educational stakeholders only, on Friday, as part of the invitation to attend yesterday’s meeting so they could have prepared for discussions with Gadsby-Dolly and other heads from the Ministry of Education.
Contacted yesterday regarding their non-appearance, TTUTA President Antonia Tekah-De Freitas expressed displeasure with the situation as she said, “TTUTA should have been consulted from the start.”
She advised of regulations governing TTUTA which clearly spells out the need for detailed discussions with members.
“When this document was sent out on Friday evening and TTUTA is asked to come to a meeting with other stakeholders on Monday evening which is today (yesterday), obviously there is no time for collaboration, discussions or consultation with members. That is a bit disrespectful and it is a point that TTUTA has made before,” she said.
Denying TTUTA was “obstructionist,” Tekah-De Freitas said the document should have been drafted from the very start with input from TTUTA, school principals and others so any copies being released would have contained the clear views of all stakeholders.
She pointed to a focus group meeting held on June 14 during which views were sought from various stakeholders.
“How can you expect us now to come to a meeting and give feedback on a document we have no information on?” she asked.
NAPSPA President Carlene Hayes also accused the Ministry of displaying gross disrespect through its actions and said they received the draft document late on Friday.
TTUTA president Antonia De Freitas address members of the media during a news conference at TTUTA’s head office, Carlsen Field, Chaguanas, yesterday.
SHASTRI BOODAN
“In no way, would I have been able to consult with members, so I cannot comment on a 51-page document without hearing from NAPSPA’s membership so I couldn’t attend.”
The decision by NAPSPA’s executive yesterday morning to boycott the evening meeting united both TTUTA and NAPSPA, with the two organisations arguing that ample time was needed to peruse the document and obtain feedback from members.
Hayes and Tekah-De Freitas said consultation should have been sought beforehand.
The two claimed teachers had faced a myriad of physical, mental and emotional challenges during the online teaching and learning system implemented during the last term.
Tobago’s TTUTA Officer, Brayden Roberts referred to the online engagement of students as a “quick fix” to the solution to keep students engaged and learning.
However, he called for more sustainable measures to be implemented as it was clear the population had to live with the COVID-19 virus for years to come.
Those who attended yesterday’s meeting included the Private Special Schools Association of T&T; the Private Secondary Schools Association; the Association of Principals of Assisted Secondary Schools; the Association of Denominational Boards which included the Catholic and Presbyterian Boards; the Private Primary Schools Association; the National Parent Teacher Association; the Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools; and the Secretary of Education, Innovation and Energy from the Tobago House of Assembly.
Responding to questions from Guardian Media as she exited the meeting, Gadsby-Dolly thanked, “All stakeholders for their thoughtful input and valuable wide-ranging recommendations.”
Pressed to say what were some of the topics discussed, she said it included, “Specific considerations for filling of staffing vacancies, close supervision of students and the need for facile access to substitute teachers, vaccination of older students in higher classes, provision of adequate cleaning supplies and masks to schools, prioritization of attendance for examination students, clarity and standardization in the classification of flu-like symptoms, additional data entry support for schools and increased support services for students, parents and teachers.”
She expressed an eagerness to meet with TTUTA officials today to continue discussions and said another meeting has been scheduled for Friday with representatives from the individual denominational boards and other stakeholders.
Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.
Association says not enough consideration given to teachers
TTUTA has said that it will make thorough checks during the month of August to see if any of the guidelines in the policy will come into effect for the start of the new school term.
President Antonia De Freitas said teachers and principals have a lot of knowledge of the difficulty of the pandemic in the last year and a half and insisted that the ministry must not be “high-handed” in its approach.
Revealing some of the challenges that the union faced in the last year, TTUTA Tobago officer, Bradon Roberts explained that there was a quick fix to get the education sector up and running again but something must be put in place that is more sustainable.
“TTUTA would have had to do a lot to support emotional strain majority of teachers would have been experiencing. We have offered mental health workshop, daily guidelines to help teachers work with the various challenges they faced on a daily basis, teachers would have extended their working hours and their screen time exposure towards unrecommended hours, teachers sleep time were also significantly affected resulting in the increasing stresses they would have been experiencing,” Roberts said.
“With all this effort, we teachers are faced with device crashes and being bumped out their own meetings, students falling out of the virtual classroom on a regular basis after spending significant time planning for lesson”, Roberts contends, “So we are now accessing the real impact to all students, these teachers still felt the need to do a lot more with the strain that they already have and principals’ who saw the difficulty in the process also assisted teachers in how they can better their teachers.”
TTUTA First Vice-President Marlon Seales told the media that the education committee of TTUTA has been working assiduously to find a way for our members to navigate this virtual blended and remote learning space so as a result, we have in our cadre many ways that we can deal with remote learning.
“We recognise that there must be a blended approach to teaching and learning and once TTUTA is giving the opportunity it will be able to share with the Ministry of Education, how that can be safely rolled out for both teachers and students, TTUTA recognises that vaccination is a choice, we recognise that our students will not be vaccinated due to the protocols that we currently have in place from World Health Organisation”, he said.
“TTUTA has taken all these things into consideration, additionally, the association through our professional advancement committee have been engaging in training for our members that we can accurately navigate remote teaching.”