Majority of teachers countrywide boycott GTU’s strike, protest

…as group protest in front of Education Ministry

The majority of teachers across the country turned up to work on Wednesday boycotting the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) call for them to strike. 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 Government’s vaccination programme.

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 on 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.

Measures to protect
In response to the rise in COVID-19 deaths and cases, the Government has mandated 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 its 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 Brickdam office on September 8, 9, and 10.
Armed with placards with the words “My body, my choice”, the group of protesting teachers chanted that they should be allowed to choose whether they want to be vaccinated or not.
“Lift the [vaccination] restrictions,” said GTU General Secretary McDonald, adding “if you start doing that we are back in the classrooms full force on Friday”.
GTU’s Administrative Officer, Lancelot Baptiste explained that the protest action was necessary owing to the delay in Government meeting with the Union.

Boycott
Despite the GTU’s strike action, a senior official at the Education Ministry told Guyana Times that the majority of teachers across the country have reported for duty with just a handful of schools closed.

This newspaper was told that the lowest turnout of teachers was recorded in Regions Four (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
When contacted on Wednesday, Education Minister Priya Manickchand said the Ministry was monitoring the situation.
Data seen by this publication shows that in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), of a total of 769 teachers at the primary level, only 27 were absent/engaged in strike action on Wednesday. Three of the schools remained closed owing to the pandemic, one was closed for repairs, while two schools were engaged in online classes.
There are 265 teachers at the nursery level in this region, only 19 of them were absent/engaged in strike action on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) teachers also boycotted calls by GTU to strike.
Of the 110 schools in the region, only teachers from three schools chose to send the students home and remain in school. The three schools where teachers sent home the students were Fort Ordinance Nursery, Fyrish Nursery, and Williamsburg Nursery.
At the primary school level, more than 75 per cent of teachers were in classrooms. Secondary schools in the region are not currently open for face-to-face learning.
Region Six Chairman David Armogan said despite a few teachers being absent, this did not significantly affect the delivery of education in the region.
Regional Executive Officer (REO) Narindra Persaud, who visited several schools in the region on Wednesday, said teachers were eager to be back in the classroom.
“At some of the schools, there were some teachers who would have heeded the Union’s call, but at the majority of schools the teachers defied the Union’s advice,” Region Six Chairman Armogan told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
He pointed out that more than 70 per cent of the teachers in the region were vaccinated while 39 per cent of medical staff in the region were vaccinated.

Uncaring
In a statement late Tuesday night, the Education Ministry described the GTU’s call for protest action as “uncaring and unconscionable”, while condemning it as “irresponsible and not reflective of the realities of the present state of the COVID-19 pandemic nor the needs of the nation’s children”.
According to the missive, teachers have been accorded the status of a most valuable resource and were paid their full salary and benefits throughout the 17 months that schools were closed. The Ministry said that teachers received no salary cuts, neither were they laid off like in many other countries.
“Vaccination of teachers is not mandatory and there are clear guidelines issued for those who do not want to be inoculated – all of this to keep teachers, their families, and our children safe,” the Ministry reiterated. It said that the Government has spared no effort to make vaccines available to every member of the public in an effort to return the country to a state of normalcy.
The Education Ministry is adamant that there was no grievance/basis for strike action and urged all teachers, parents, and administrators not to fall prey to the “political machinations of Coretta McDonald and the small cabal of self-serving individuals who have hijacked the Guyana Teachers Union”.
The Education Ministry said it was also calling on teachers to reject the “unconscionable call of the GTU, Coretta McDonald, and her political cohorts in favour of serving the children of our nation and advancing their education and socialisation as we exit this pandemic and reclaim our lives”.
The Public Service Ministry has also reminded that all teachers who do not report for duty will not be paid. Meanwhile, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has defended the updated vaccination requirements as necessary to ensure public safety. (G1)