Teachers refuse to work under ‘terrible’ conditions Longdenville Presbyterian reopens The Ministry of Education has reopened Longdenville Presbyterian Primary School, but teachers have refused to teach under what they say are terrible working conditions. The school population of the denominational school has been divided for the past 14 years, with half of the children being taught at the annex of Longdenville Presbyterian Church and the other half at Longdenville Government Primary School. Speaking with the press at the Ministry of Education, Hayes Street, Port of Spain, on Friday, chief education officer Harrilal Seecharan said he could not go into details on the issue because it was “actively” being dealt with, but the school has reopened. “The issues of the teachers not reporting to school following the reopening of school has to do with the context of the school being housed at two locations. That matter has been followed through by the Ministry of Education and the relevant information will be forwarded to the Teaching Service Commission, so I will not comment on the matter because it is under active consideration. “My concern, however, is with respect to the time lost and how the Ministry plans to make that up, specifically in relation to the Continuous Assessment Component. I want to assure the public, as with other schools, arrangements have been put in place to facilitate those pupils to get the additional time to complete the exercise. The pupils at Longdenville will not be put at a disadvantage in terms of time lost,” said Seecharan, adding that the Ministry can now move ahead and put in place the new primary school curriculum there. In a telephone interview on Friday, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) general secretary Peter Wilson told the Express that although the ministry is saying the school is reopened, the fact is that they have not dealt with the health and safety issues raised by the teachers at both the church annex and Longdenville Government Primary School. “Those conditions in terms of the over-crowding, the small space, the heat, the poor lighting, the dust and so on, they have not dealt with those issues at all. The teachers have been reporting, but are refusing to work in those unhealthy conditions. Our information is that not many parents have been sending their children as well,” he said. Wilson added that Minister of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh has been talking about disciplining the teachers for their stance, but on what grounds he does not know. “These are health and safety violations and they have the right to remove themselves from conditions which are a threat to their health and safety and they are guaranteed that under the law, so I don’t know that the ministry has any grounds. They are trying to intimidate the teachers into working in the same unhealthy conditions.” Acting permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education Jennifer Daniel explained that the Presbyterian Board needs to provide land for the relocation of the school but the board has not been able to identify land for a replacement school. “State land has, however, been identified so that the arrangements will have to be made to do the necessary work to vest it in the board so that they can follow up with the building of a school, but it is a process that will take some time,” said Daniel. “The intention is that there will be a replacement school. We are actively involved in treating with the issue of the State lands being vested towards the building of a school,” she added. (Source: Trinidad Express)
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:42:26 +0000
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