Dear Editor,
As the strike continues and parents and children are left to wonder whether school is ongoing or not, it is a very confusing period of time in Guyana. People need answers as to how long more their children will be without schooling. I noticed a Facebook post last night whereby a child messaged his class group to find out if there will be any sort of schooling the following day and the teacher responded by questioning him as to whether the news told him that the strike was over and done with… then proceeded to block him from the class’ WhatsApp group.
While it is understood that the teachers do not need to have a WhatsApp group on their phones for classes it should also be understood that the parents and students were not informed as to when this strike would be over and when the children can return to their classrooms and such information is vital because some children are going to school and some are not so we are just left to wonder. As this information was posted as a public Facebook post a lot of people were commenting and when one parent suggested that the teacher did not need to block him but rather just not respond to him if she thought he messaged her too late at night, the teacher responded by telling the parent to “getttttttt” among other things.
Is that the manner in which our senior teachers behave now? Where is the professionalism? Isn’t this teacher supposed to be teaching children to be polite and courteous, among other things? I’ve said before, teachers need to be thoroughly screened and checked up on in Guyana. Since this popular “cutlass teacher” got off the hook so easily, with the help of the leader of the Guyana Teacher’s Union, it seems she now believes she is invincible and does not need to act accordingly. Where is a student union when we need one?
Sincerely,
J. Smith
