The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) yesterday began a series of planned protests against the government’s directive that they get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing for the virus at their own expense.
“Respect our choice,” “My body my choice,” “Everything has increased except teachers wages and salaries,” and “Provide free PCR tests for those who say no to vaccine,” were among the messages written on placards held by some 50 teachers who were gathered outside the Ministry of Education’s offices along Brickdam, Georgetown, yesterday when they joined the GTU protest.
With the reopening of schools for face-to-face learning, the government has required that teachers must either be vaccinated or provide a negative PCR test result every week in order to access school compounds. Some teachers have been locked out of schools as a result of the enforcement of the measure in some parts of the country.
While teachers are expected to cover the cost of the PCR test, many say it would unrealistic given the high cost. The union and others have since moved to challenge the requirements through the High Court.
One of the protesting teachers told Stabroek News that she is unvaccinated and would prefer for the PCR tests to be free just as the vaccines are. “We are here because of the PCR test that they are demanding that we take every week and we have to stand it at our own expense. So, we think that they should stand that expense, since our taxpayers’ money is standing the bill for the vaccine and that’s [being] given out for free. So the PCR test should’ve been free,” the teacher said.
Another teacher went into detail about how the cost of the PCR test, on average $25,000, will affect their livelihoods. “We still are not having access to our daily lives. “We [would have to] take $25,000 out of our $70,000 salary every week. Does that math add up? $25,000 out of $70,000 every week? It means two weeks we can afford it and the third week we can’t afford it and the fourth week we can’t eat. We can’t feed our families. It’s not mandatory but this is what they are doing,” he said.
The man then said that the protest is being done on behalf of all the other workers who did not take action. He said that “this must stop here and now. We are doing what the others were afraid to do. We are standing for our rights.”
Some teachers also called for a salary increase, saying that during the 17 months that schools were closed to physical learning, they continued working. Teachers were employed throughout that time however many teachers have complained that they have not been compensated for expenses they faced while trying to teach using virtual platforms.
No retreat
The protestors were accompanied by GTU officials, including the General Secretary Coretta McDonald, Administrative Officer Lancelot Baptiste and former Vice President Leslyn Collins. McDonald, who encouraged the teachers with chants and slogans during the protest, said “the ultimate measurement of a man is not when he sits in his seat of comfort but how he reacts when he faces challenges, when he faces bully-ism, when he faces dictatorship, when he faces people who are ungrateful.” She added that the teachers were used to mark Grade Six papers and hand out vouchers at the schools but now are being turned away from doing their duties because of the vaccination policy. “We are not hostages in our own country and we will not be moved until Priya Manickchand decides that she is going to get her colleagues to pull from the gazetted order that restriction. Until she decides that she is going to speak to her counterpart at the Ministry of Finance to honour our obligations, we will not retreat,” McDonald shouted to the teachers.
Collins told the media that the protest will continue until Friday before they will regroup and start again on Monday if there are no changes by then. “We said that we would start in front of 21 Brickdam and we will be here for three days because we believe that all instructions come from there,” she said.
Collins further said that the teachers were drawn from Georgetown, the East Coast, and the East Bank. Collins also said that they are expecting more teachers to come out and stand in solidarity with them as the days go by. “I sat in my living room and wept when I saw my teachers being told by security guards that they can’t enter the compound. The disrespect must stop,” she noted.
While stating that the vaccination policy is among the things that need to be addressed, Collins said that teachers also deserve a pay raise. “We struggle, rice gone up, oil gone up, everything goes up yet we don’t get a raise of pay. Everybody getting something, yet teachers getting nothing. Yet we are asked to go there and work like horses. Then no thanks but to come after us,” Collins said.
She then went on to say that after the GTU announced that the protest would be conducted as they stand with the teachers who choose to remain unvaccinated, the Ministry issued a statement saying that teachers didn’t require vaccination however, she said that the statement should’ve been issued even before that. “We want our unaddressed package to be addressed regardless of who is in government,” Collins added, stating that the protest was not a political stunt.
On Monday, when schools re-opened for face to face learning, the GTU requested that vaccinated teachers support those unvaccinated teachers who would be barred from the classroom. Then on Tuesday, the ministry said 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 vaccine brands are still available and easily accessible to all Guyanese.
Solidarity
Meanwhile, the main opposition APNU+AFC yesterday said it stood in solidarity with the teachers. “We demand that our teachers be treated with respect and dignity by the PPP regime,” it said in a statement, while charging that the reopening of schools was “reckless and irresponsible,” hence the action by teachers.
In addition, the coalition outlined proposals which it called on the government to review and adopt, including that a $50,000 monthly educational support grant be given to all teachers to aid with covering expense of virtual teaching, that a high powered laptop be delivered to each teacher and home internet be provided along with a monthly Zoom subscription.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Natasha Singh also spoke to this newspaper and said that the opposition stands in solidarity with the teachers and the union. “I am here to support, as an individual, as a national leader, the teachers here today. I am in solidarity. We have been watching what’s going on and we believe the Ministry of Education has done very little to care for their teachers. We’ve seen what has happened in the schools and I believe that enough is enough. The teachers should be respected. The discriminatory manner in which they are rolling out their policies is not good enough. It’s unacceptable. The moment you start locking out some teachers, not all teachers, the moment you start locking out some nurses, but not all the nurses, something is wrong with your policy,” she said.
