A TUG-O-WAR between some secondary schools’ principals and physical education teachers may have led to the boycott by 15 schools of Wednesday’s hastily arranged Barbados National Secondary Schools Athletic Championship at the Weymouth “A” playing field.
Investigations by the WEEKEND Nation revealed that prior to the meet, a high-ranking Ministry of Education official called several principals to enquire about the participation of their schools at the meet which was staged by the recently formed Physical Education Teachers Association of Barbados (PETAB).
It is also understood that certain instructions were given but some head teachers, who are associated with the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPS), the body which runs the Barbados Secondary Schools Athletic Championships (BSSAC), maintained their stance not to compete.
When asked on Wednesday whether there was disunity among his association, which has a membership of around 100 physical education teachers from both primary and secondary schools, PETAB president, Philip Hackett, made it clear there was a procedure which had to be followed.
