Teachers awaiting promotion will have to wait longer as the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) have failed to agree on the list of promotions.
GTU President Mark Lyte told reporters after a meeting with the TSC yesterday that the union was extremely disappointed that the commission has proved intractable.
“The meeting was unfruitful. The TSC is not prepared to deal with GTU. The issue is the adamant position taken by the TSC not to review the applications as requested by the GTU,” Lyte explained.
In July, the preliminary promotion lists for public school teachers prepared by the TSC and the School Board Secretariat were made public. Those promotions were, however, stalled when the GTU secured an injunction to prevent the two bodies from producing finalised lists.
According to the GTU, the decision to seek an injunction was a response to several complaints from teachers, who are convinced that the process, in some instances, was unfair.
A particular bone of contention is the case of teachers seconded to the Ministry of Education as education officers and who have been promoted to senior posts in schools.
Based on the GTU’s application, Chief Justice (Ag) Ian Chang ordered the TSC and the Minister of Education, respectively, to assess all applications for the 2015 promotions. These bodies were asked to show cause why the appointments should not be deemed unlawful.
Last month, the GTU and TSC decided to attempt to settle the matter through dialogue. However, after yesterday’s meeting the union expressed its preference for the court to deal with the matter since the TSC refuses to negotiate.
“We have enough evidence to indicate that something went wrong with the promotions and we tried to negotiate with the TSC via dialogue only to be told that they are not prepared to review the list,” Lyte said. “We believe that there is enough discrepancies in there to warrant our actions,” he added.
The GTU is also contending that it is not being provided with the requested copy of the document governing the operations of the TSC. The TSC is responsible for the appointment, promotion, discipline and dismissal of teachers at Non-Board schools. For several years, there have been questions raised about the process used to promote teachers. Supposedly, this process is conducted using a point system. Points are awarded based on qualifications and experience, with those teachers who score the most points being eligible for promotion over those with less.
GTU is presently asking for these documented guidelines to be made public.
“This matter needs to be settled once and for all, so that our teachers in future will not suffer. Many have suffered over the years,” Lyte said.
As a result of yesterday’s meeting, the Union said it has lost confidence in the Leila Ramson-led TSC, which it wants reconstituted.
“We have lost total confidence in the Commission. The GTU is asking for a new Commission, which is more willing to work in the best interest of teachers,” Lyte noted.
The parties are set to appear before the Chief Justice on November 6th, when the union hopes a decision will be reached to have the promotion process reviewed for promotions to become effective in time for the next school term.
