Following a meeting last evening the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has called for “boots on the ground” for a series of protests outside the Minis-try of Education today, tomorrow and Friday over the government’s vaccine policy for educators.
GTU President Mark Lyte told Stabroek News that the union has not yet called for a strike but is prepared to do so if the government does not relent.
“For there to be a strike we would have to write to the [Ministry of Education] via the Ministry of Labour and go through the process. This is a series of pro-tests that may culminate into a strike,” Lyte stressed while explaining that the action relates not only to the current vaccination requirements but also to “financial matters”.
In response, the Education Ministry last evening accused the GTU of being “uncaring and uncon-scionable” and reminded that all teachers who do not work will not be paid.
“We condemn this action as irresponsible and not reflective of the realities of the present state of the COVID-19 pandemic nor the needs of the nation’s children,” the ministry said in a statement, before adding that there is no grievance/basis for strike action.
The ministry’s statement also attacked GTU General Secretary Corretta McDonald, claiming that she fronts a political cabal which has hijacked the union. (McDonald is a Member of Parliament for the main opposition APNU+AFC.)
The ministry also reminded that Guyanese children have been home from school for over 17 months, resulting in loss of learning and dropping out.
“More than 600 drop-outs [have been] recorded at the primary level alone. We are working assiduously to arrest this situation and reverse this reality for our children who have already fallen victim to these phenomena. We want all of our children engaged and in school and are working towards achieving this safely. There is no mandatory requirement for children to be vaccinated to return to classrooms,” the ministry said.
Speaking about teachers, the ministry claimed that they have been afforded the status of a most valuable resource and paid their full salary and benefits throughout the 17 months.
“There were no salary cuts or layoffs as in so many other countries,” it stressed.
The union has been contending that teachers are owed an allowance for expenses incurred when the school system moved to online learning. Lyte has repeatedly noted that teachers were solely responsible for procuring devices and necessary internet service.
The union has also opposed the COVID-19 emergency measures, which require teachers to either be vaccinated or provide a weekly negative PCR test from a private medical facility.
As part of a court action against the measure, the GTU claims that the measures were implemented through an improper exercise of executive authority.
On Monday, when school re-opened for face to face learning Lyte requested that vaccinated teachers support those unvaccinated teachers who would be barred from the classroom.
He reminded that with teachers locked out of the school compound, the workload of each vaccinated teacher increases and called for GTU to stand united.
Last evening, the ministry stressed that vaccination is not mandatory as “there are clear guidelines issued for those who do not want to be inoculated… to keep teachers, their families, and our children safe.”
It added that Government of Guyana has spared no effort to make vaccines available to every member of the public and return the country to a state of normalcy, before adding that multiple types and brands of vaccines are still available and easily accessible to all Guyanese.
