“But we have since forwarded the letters to the union and we are leaving it to the union and to God because we cannot keeping fighting this issue when our students need us, it is draining us,” one of the teachers told Stabroek News on Tuesday evening. She was referring to a second letter sent by the Ministry to the teachers.
Efforts to contact President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Colin Bynoe were unsuccessful. It is not clear what actions the union would now take but the teacher said that it is up to the union.
Last Monday, a joint statement from the ministry and the union said that following a meeting the ministry had decided to withdraw the letters denying promotions to three teachers of Queen’s College. The statement said that the two parties had “reached agreement that as a result of the disclosure of certain mitigating factors the sanctions dealing with denial of promotion for the three teachers has been withdrawn.” The three teachers are Candida Williams, Nadia Hollingsworth and Carol Marks. The letter of demotion sent to former head teacher Friedel Isaacs still stands.
The teacher who spoke with this newspaper said they were happy that the sanctions were withdrawn but noted that they are not to be blamed for what finally happened to Gopaul and she once again reiterated that they did all they could have done to help the young girl.
In the second letter sent by the Ministry, Hollingsworth is still informed that as deputy she failed to conduct the requisite level of supervisory duty in following up on the report and taking the necessary action. Hollingsworth in the past had indicated that she was not deputy of the school when the matter was first brought to the attention of the school’s authority in October of 2009.
“This is tantamount to extremely poor supervision as a result of your inefficiency a decision has been taken with immediate effect to bar you from promotion for the next three years…” the initial letter had informed Hollingsworth. The second letter only omits the part about her being barred from promotion.
Williams and Marks are still being accused of failing to report the situation Ministry of Education.
The teachers had told this newspaper that when the child contacted them last year, the first thing they thought about was getting the police involved and helping the child to seek medical attention. They had pointed out that they had later informed their headmistress and she should have informed the ministry.
Last Monday’s decision followed an announcement by the GTU that it would not have been participating in the National Schools Athletics Championships if the letters were not withdrawn.
The GTU, in its objection to the process that led to the sanctions, had pointed out that there were several procedural irregularities in the Education Ministry’s recent investigation. Bynoe had stated that there are binding documents between the union and the ministry which stipulate that the union should have been involved in such an investigation. He questioned how the teachers could have been investigated and not represented in any form. It was pointed out that in every situation, persons are given a chance to be heard and represented but the teachers were not given that opportunity.
Gopaul was reported missing on September 24, 2010 and on October 2, 2010 her decomposing body was found by picnickers in a suitcase in a creek near the abandoned Emerald Tower nature resort, off the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
