Following months of delay, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has written Vreed-en-Hoop primary school head teacher Alvin Johnson stating that it has found no valid reason to vary its decision not to grant his application to be promoted to head Leonora Primary School.
Johnson went public with his concern after he felt that he was treated unfairly by the commission regarding a promotion he had applied for.
On July 7 last year Johnson wrote the commission objecting to a decision to appoint Gurdat Persaud as headmaster of Leonora Primary School ahead of him and requested a review of both applications and other components submitted by both himself and Persaud.
The commission finally responded to Johnson’s total of three letters asking for the review, in its letter dated November 14, 2006 in which it stated that Johnson’s letter of review was dealt with by the commission on August 7. “But why only now?,” Johnson queried.
And Johnson said he only received this letter from the Region 3 department of education on January 3. However the author of the letter, Principal Personnel Officer Elsie Nedd confirmed to this newspaper last week that the letter was composed on November 14 in response to Johnson’s three letters requesting a review.
But she was unable to say why the letter was not received by the education department up to the last date that Johnson made his routine check for regular mail or other correspondence.
He told Stabroek News that there is a facility at the education office in the region where head teachers of the different levels of schools could check to see if there was any mail for them, but his last check on December 29 last revealed nothing. Also, he said, no mail from the commission was available for him at the school for November or December. However, it was only on Wednesday, January 3 that Johnson said he saw the mail and was surprised when he opened it and spotted the November 14 date. “This has caused me to conclude that this letter had to be backdated somehow,” he added.
The letter stated: “Please be informed that according to the rules of the Teaching Service Commission there is no room for review of persons who were interviewed for the headship position. Therefore the commission has found no valid reason to vary its decision.”
This newspaper on December 21 had made contact with TSC chairman Richard Mangar for a comment on the issue since the commission was not responding to Johnson’s request. Mangar had said that this newspaper could choose to comment on the issue as it saw fit and noted too that the matter was dealt with before and so the commission considered it as “closed.”
Johnson was head teacher of Saraswat Primary School when allegations had surfaced in January last year that a male teacher of the school had sexually assaulted a female student and Johnson had not properly handled the issue. Reports on the matter had indicated too that most of the teachers subsequently sought transfers since some of them had received threats to their lives and Johnson was also transferred to head the Greenwich Park Primary School.
Johnson felt that this may have influenced the commission’s decision not to appoint him to head the Leonora Primary School, although he feels he was duly qualified. To support his case, Johnson noted that Guyana Teachers Union nominee George Cave had also informed the union that when interviewed for his first choice to head Leonora Primary, he [Johnson] had the highest score of all the other applicants and should have been awarded his first preference to head Leonora Primary.
In addition, the Leonora Cultural Society had written to the commission, a letter which this newspaper has seen, and with supporting signatures, made known its preference for having Gurdat Persaud instead of Alvin Johnson, head the school.
Johnson therefore believes that he was discriminated against and so proceeded to take his concerns to the Ethnic Relations Commission.
In ERC’S hands
Johnson wrote to the Ethnic Relations Commission, which is mandated by the constitution to investigate reports or complaints of alleged racial discrimination. He said his letters were sent registered mail.
But it is now almost three months since he forwarded his first letter, to which the commission responded, and he went on to explain the specifics of his complaint in another letter to the commission.
ERC’s Chief Executive Officer Christine King told Stabroek News that the commission did not receive any follow-up letters.
In response to Johnson’s first letter of complaint, the ERC on August 21 wrote him and acknowledged the receipt of the complaint and advised Johnson that the matter was receiving urgent attention.
But on October 9 another letter from the commission informed him that the letter sent did not amount to a complaint and it therefore could not proceed in the matter. But the commission said it would enclose a complaints form to be filled out and returned, but according to Johnson this was not done. The ERC had noted also that after receiving the complaints form it would then give consideration to whether the matter was within its jurisdiction.
Johnson said he wrote the commission again and explained his whole situation in a detailed manner, a letter which the commission said it never received. He said he also wrote advising them that since they hadn’t responded he would authorize his union to take the required action; a letter again which CEO King said the commission never received.
Meanwhile, King advised that Johnson forward the letters once more and the matter would be looked into, and he has agreed to do just that.
