Zeeburg Secondary teachers unlikely to receive transfers

The Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) has revealed that requested transfers of the teachers of the Zeeburg Secondary School on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), will not be granted in the near future. This is in light of the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Examinations Council (CSEC) examination which is slated for May/June.
This statement was revealed by the General Secretary of the GTU, Coretta Mc Donald, who stated that the Union was aware that there have been issues regarding parents and teachers in the past, and she believed those issues were resolved. However, according to the parents, the matter has worsened.
When asked if the teachers who requested transfers will be relocated to a different work environment, the General Secretary noted that with the upcoming preparations for CSEC examinations in a few months, it would be unwise to appoint new teachers to the students.
However, she noted that the union will be working with the Department of Education to resolve the issues being faced by teachers at the Zeeburg Secondary School and there is a possibility that just a few teachers will be given transfers.
“What we’re going to do is go to the Ministry of Education and see how we can develop the issues that they are having there. There might be recommendations for one or two transfers,” Mc Donald stated.
Many concerned parents of the Zeeburg Secondary School had raised eyebrows in the past few months regarding the poor management of the institution by the administrative body and mainly the head teacher.
They have blamed the head teacher of the school for her weak leadership and forceful views which she imposes on the students.
Some of the problems being highlighted by parents involved the large sums of monetary donations that their children are required to contribute. An infuriated parent revealed that the children were told by the head teacher that if the contributions weren’t sent to the school, the Grade Eleven students will not be allowed to write their mock examinations for this year’s Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) examination.
The parents were also forced to make contributions totalling almost $1,000,000 which was squandered for the purchasing of surveillance cameras, which they believe should’ve been set aside towards the development of the school’s facilities.
The schools’ Culture Day undertakings, an educational activity, were also cancelled. The disturbed parents also related that the head teacher expressed her views to have the school’s uniform colour changed to one of her choice.
As such, teachers and parents had no choice but to notify the Education Ministry which they indicated are in agreement with their concerns. This also resulted in the some of the teachers requesting transfers. However, these approvals will be hindered until the completion of the examinations.