After being ordered by the High Court to review “all applications for promotions in the Teaching Service afresh for the year 2015,” the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has decided on “humanitarian grounds” to comply with the order rather than appeal the decision.
In a communication to Stabroek News, TSC Chairman Leila Ramson said that though three Senior Counsel strongly advised that they “appeal the said Court Order,” the commission decided at its monthly Statutory Meeting, held yesterday, to review the 2015/2016 Senior Promotion List for School Administrators in the new school term.
“The TSC which is a Constitutional and Autonomous body has been strongly advised by three Senior Counsel to appeal the said Court Order, however, since the pursuance of said appeal would result in a long and time-consuming process, TSC has decided not to do so, on humanitarian grounds,” Ramson explained.
She stressed that their decision not to appeal “was primarily to avoid any further suffering of the affected teachers which would ultimately also affect the nation’s children.”
According to Ramson, a special full commission meeting will be held early in January, 2017 “to plan the review” which “will definitely take a few months, since a thorough review of approximately 5,000 applications will be done.”
She also noted that the commission is still to receive a written decision from the court and hopefully this will be received by early January.
However, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) Mark Lyte is not impressed with this pronouncement.
“It’s not good enough. The court’s decision was made over a month ago; [there has been] more than enough time for the TSC to have complied so that teachers would’ve received their promotions in the new term rather than a promise of a review,” he told Stabroek News.
According to Lyte if these promotions are not decided before January, the union on behalf of its members will take necessary action. What exactly constitutes necessary action will be decided by the General Council at a meeting to be held on December 20, 2016.
On November 9, Chief Justice, Yonette Cummings-Edwards made absolute the Order Nisi granted to the GTU by then Chief Justice Ian Chang in July, 2015. The order calls on the TSC to “assess all applications for promotions in the Teaching Service afresh for the year 2015.”
