A STRANGE title, one might say, but the saying that refers to trying to catch the horse long after it has run out of the stable, especially if you fail to put a bolt on the door, is the basis of the analogies I attempt to make to educate and sensitize the public. Stable No.1. Starting from the known before going to the unknown, it is with interest that it took a whole National Commission On Education to determine that there is now a need for a Teachers’ Service Commission. This issue has been bandied about for almost 20 years – promised but never seeing materialisation.I remember as president of the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU) spending lengthy hours with the very able and knowledgeable Mr Patrick Frost interviewing people, analyzing, researching, checking legal logistics, and finally making a submission to the then Government regarding the formation and constitution of such an entity – without any real response. Wow! Had we been intellectual enough, we would have got some notice – and our work would have been for free.I do hope that such a Teachers’ Service Commission will seek to deal urgently with matters of certification, accountability, both formative and summative evaluation, salaries and seniority listings which, of late, have become a very serious source of contention among teachers.Neither the Ministry of Education nor the Personnel Administration Division seems to have its hand on the matter. At several secondary schools it has been discovered that the lists have been prepared and grouped differently, and if this is not addressed, there will be more issues of suing and other related legal matters when the correct people are not asked to act in posts that are temporarily vacant.Before closing on this horse which has been running around outside of its stable for a long time, compliments are offered to the National Commission on its suggestion of finding alternative institutions for those 14- and 15-year-olds who are bent on dragging the schools into the ground. At the same time, I wonder which principal of a secondary school of over 800 children will endeavour to administer corporal punishment on his own as recommended by said commission. (I am thankful, however, that there was no move to remove this very important feature.) Stable No. 2. The Ministry of Education, along with the Personnel Administration Division, must look seriously at the fact that since the formation of the new interviewing panels for appointments to deputy principal and principal, a function taken away from the boards of management, the entire procedure has really been neglected to the extent that several schools now have acting persons, in some cases both the principal and deputy. There are as many as eight current positions that have not been filled over a two-year period, despite the advertisements in the newspapers stating clearly the date of commencement of service to said posts. These schools include Grantley Adams, Princess Margaret, Alma Parris, Lester Vaughn, St Leonard’s, The Garrison and Ellerslie. How wonderful it would be to be able to go into an interview and say: “Oh, I have been acting for the past two years.” Is this an unfair advantage or what? But look! This horse is running far and wide, may dance and even “wuk up” for Crop-Over. September will start and nothing may be done to deal with these issues. My humble suggestion: in the case of the vacant deputy principal posts, since the same teachers have been applying over and over again, the panel ought to be constituted in its normal manner with the addition of the principals of those schools needing a deputy, along with the corresponding members of the boards. Everyone sits in the same room asking the required questions, and at the end of the day candidates are chosen from all the interviewees to fill posts at four or five schools in one go. Less time-consuming on all counts and more transparent.
•To be continued tomorrow.
