President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, is refuting claims that, when they had turned up for school on Monday, he had sent home students of the Port Mourant Secondary School, of which he is the Head-teacher.
Lyte has said he had not attended school on Monday, and hence could not have sent home students.
GTU President Mark Lyte
David Armogan, Regional Chairman of Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) told the media on Tuesday, “The only school that we had some issues with is the Port Mourant Secondary School. The head of that school is Mark Lyte, and he is the President of the Guyana Teachers Union.
“The children (had) turned up, but only five teachers (had) turned up, and so they made some arrangements to do the online revision.”
Lyte, however, told Guyana Times on Wednesday that he was not even in vicinity of the school on Monday. “I was told that 37 students (had) turned up for school. It is correct that five teachers (had) turned up, but I do not know who would have told the students to go back home,” he explained.
Region 6 Chairman David Armogan
The Headteacher said only two students who would be sitting the Caribbean Secondary Examinations Council’s exams (CSEC) were absent from school on Monday. He also disclosed that students who would be sitting Principles of Accounts at CSEC had attended school.
“We were doing online classes when school was closed. The teachers are in constant contact with the students, and the Accounts teacher arranged that students will be at school on Wednesday. The Accounts class is a very small class,” Lyte added.
Following announcement by the Education Ministry that schools would be reopened this week, the GTU had issued an advisory, giving teachers’ an option not to attend school when the Education Ministry called for the reopening of school. The coronavirus pandemic was sighted by the GTU as its major concern.
Schools are reopened only for the following students: those sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) exams; those sitting the Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) exams, and those sitting the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). Classes are being held only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and only for limited hours each day.
In Region Six, the overall turnout for the reopening of schools has been in excess of 90 per cent.
With the NGSA students having only two weeks before their examinations are held, Chairman Armogan is of the view that children are prepared to attend school.
“Because they only have about two weeks left, and they have a lot of revision that they will need to catch up with,” he pointed out.
At the regional level, Chairman Armogan said, Region Six is putting safety first. Facilities have been installed at schools to ensure students wash their hands regularly, he noted, and most of the students have been wearing their face masks while in the classrooms. Meanwhile, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has seen a relatively satisfactory turnout at schools on Monday. Region 10 Education Officer (REDO) Rabindra Singh has described that turnout as “exceptionally fantastic” for the first day following almost three months of closure of schools.
