Vice Chairman objects to Region 2 female teachers’ placement in interior

Region Two Vice Chairperson Nandranie Coonjah, currently acting as Regional Chairwoman, has said she is very concerned for the safety of young female teachers who are being placed in the interior to work after completing training at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).
In an interview with Guyana Times, Coonjah revealed that 16 young female teachers from Region Two who recently completed their training at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) were given letters to start teaching in Regions Seven, Eight and Nine, and a delegation of their parents and guardians had visited her to vent their frustrations at the situation.

The RDC member noted that her concern is the safety of the youths in the hinterland areas.
Also a commissioner on the Women and Gender Commission, Coonjah said she is dissatisfied with the MoE’s decision, since young people will be venturing out in the world of work with limited or no experience and would be placed at a disadvantage.
“Sabrina Gamell was murdered due to inexperience, and she was forced to work under harsh conditions,” Coonjah said. Gamell, a teacher from Pomeroon, Region Two, had been killed in Region Nine.
The Regional Vice Chairperson is therefore calling on the Education Ministry and the placement unit to revisit the policy of choosing teachers to send to the riverine areas, and to exercise consideration in this choosing.
Coonjah acknowledges this as being an issue over the years, but has called for young people’s welfare to be represented.
She also said that, based on information she received from parents, most of them will not be sending their children to teach in those forested areas, and she is concerned at how they would source the money to repay their loans.
One parent who was very worried over the situation has said his daughter was given a letter to report for duty at a school at Sand Creek in Region Nine. He said his daughter is going to work for the first time, and he is disturbed that she is being placed so far away from home.
“I won’t allow my daughter to go work so far (away from home),” the father has stated. Other parents have since expressed similar sentiments.
Contacted, Regional Education Officer for Region Two, Baramadai Seepersaud, has said the Regional Department of Education has nothing to do with the placement of teachers. (Indrawattie Natram)