Six public schools were hardest hit by Thursday’s teacher sickout, according to Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw.
Teachers responded to a call from the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) to stay off the job today and possibly tomorrow, protesting government’s failure to reinstate term’s leave under pre-2014 conditions.
“All 105 schools in the public arena were open, however by 12 noon we were told that there were six schools that were without the requisite number of teachers,” Archer-Bradshaw said.
The affected schools were Belmont Primary, Arthur Smith Primary, St Lawrence Primary, Workman’s Primary, Sharon Primary, and St Jude’s Primary.
At Belmont Primary, only three of 18 teachers were present, Arthur Smith had 11 of 31, St Lawrence recorded five of 21, while Workman’s had just three of 12.
Sharon Primary had 10 of its 28 teachers show up, and at St Jude’s, 17 teachers were initially present, but by midday, several had left.
Archer-Bradshaw said she was “very surprised” and “very disappointed” by the BUT’s decision to proceed with the sickout, especially after a meeting in which she said progress on the term’s leave issue was highlighted.
“It was baffling because it was very clear to me during the past several months that there was no breakdown in negotiation, no breakdown in communication,” she said, adding it was the closest they have ever been to a resolution.
She urged the BUT “to continue to operate in the way that we have operated before this unfortunate situation”.
