SPECULATION WAS rife and unease heightened yesterday with news that more of the 3 000 Government workers set to lose their jobs had been given their walking papers.
Even though work is not guaranteed for temporary teachers as the school terms roll around, an estimated 300 teachers converged at the Barbados Workers’ Union Solidarity House headquarters for a meeting with their representative, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), in fear.
At the end of the more than two-hour meeting, many of them had smiles on their faces as they exited the doors.
They had been given the assurance from their union that both the Minister of Finance and Education had indicated that their jobs were safe.
The teachers escaped unscathed this time, but executive members of BUT said they were conscious that the situation could change at any time.
Members compiled several suggestions, some of which were presented by the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations, to help Government recover costs in education and other sectors in the event of further job cuts.
“We have recognized that this is a serious crisis and we know that there is always the possibility that they can increase the number. They can move from 3 000, so we’re hoping that it doesn’t have to get to that,” general secretary Herbert Gittens said.
Noting that he was a school principal, Gittens said he had programmes in place which ran through to August 31 and were set around his current staff complement.
“If you remove any of my teachers, then the programmes are seriously compromised. And I think that the Government looked at that, and recognized that they just cannot interfere with education just like that,” Gittens said.
He added that a need for further teaching staff was created in recent years with construction of additional nursery schools and the creation of more sixth form schools.
“That calls for additional posts which [Government has] not created. So we would have, maybe, a large excess of temporary teachers but they’re obviously needed in the system,” Gittens argued.
The Education Ministry and the BUT have given the assurance that all teachers will be assigned to schools for the start of the term on Monday. (YB)
