GTU has no power to revoke teachers’ scholarships – Education Ministry

…condemns threats on non-protesting teachers

The Education Ministry has rejected threats allegedly made by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to those teachers who had decided not to partake in the current strike actions against Government’s vaccination measures.
The GTU had called for teachers who have been out of the classrooms for 17 months owing to COVID-19, to down tools to protest the measures which stipulate that only vaccinated persons and those with negative PCR tests will be allowed to enter public buildings including schools. However, a majority of them showed up to work, boycotting the protest lines.

In a statement on Saturday, the Education Ministry said it was aware of open and subtle threats made against teachers, since it was in receipt of several complaints. Awardees of Government scholarships facilitated by the Union were reportedly told that it would be in jeopardy of they do not participate in the strike. However, the Ministry has since debunked these threats.
It said, “The Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Service wishes to make explicitly clear that scholarships are not granted based on anyone’s political affiliation nor whether they support strike action or not and would not be taken away because of the same.”

No jurisdiction
The Ministry added that the GTU does not have jurisdiction to revoke any scholarship that was granted to a teacher by the Government of Guyana even if the scholarships came from the arrangement between the Government and the Union. It was noted that officials are equally aware that the promise of duty-free concession and the power to withhold the same is being used in these circumstances to gain participation in the strike.
In response, teachers who do not want to participate in strike action were assured that they will not be punished and that the Ministry will guarantee their protection.
“We reject all attempts by politically motivated forces within the GTU to threaten those teachers who have chosen not to participate in the present strike action and ask that good sense prevail as we work in earnest to move the education system forward and meaningfully engage our children academically at this time of international crisis,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, led by executives of the GTU and A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) parliamentarian, Coretta McDonald, who is also the GTU General Secretary, a group of teachers from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) staged a protest in front of the Education Ministry’s Brickdam, Georgetown headquarters calling on the Government to rescind its recent vaccination policy.
After being closed for more than a year, some schools in Guyana reopened last Monday for face-to-face classes. The Union said that unvaccinated teachers were locked out of school buildings. The Union, however, is also against the reopening of schools until safety protocols are agreed with the Union for the protection of teachers and students. Pointing to the rise in COVID-19 deaths and positive cases, the GTU said it believed that it was unsafe to fully reopen schools for face-to-face learning.

Vaccinated
In response to the rise in COVID-19 deaths and cases, the Government has required that any person wishing to enter a public building must be vaccinated. A public building refers to a building to which the public has lawful access and includes both privately- and publicly-owned buildings, including learning institutions. An unvaccinated person who wants to enter a public building must make an appointment and present a negative PCR test taken within seven days of the day they want entry.
Only tests from a Health Ministry-approved laboratory are accepted. This is just one of the measures announced in the Official Gazette on September 4, which are slated to last until September 30. But on Tuesday, the GTU issued a notice to teachers entitled “Boots on de Ground”, calling for them to protest in front of the Education Ministry’s office.