| Even as strike action continues at the Berbice High School, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Colwyn King, is adamant that the purpose of the action has somewhere along the way been misconstrued.King, during an interview, yesterday, argued that the strike action was instigated by the union in retaliation to an erroneous report which was offered to the Ministry of Education about the union’s position on a recent flogging incident at the Berbice High School.The flogging incident, according to King, which saw a female teacher being sent home pending an investigation and a hearing by the Teaching Service Commission, was brought to the attention of the union.Reports are that the teacher flogged almost 30 children because they failed to complete an assignment. The flogging was said to be in contravention of the regulation on corporal punishment.King said that at no point in time had the union accepted what the teacher had done as right.However, it was reported that the president of the union at a press conference had listed the reinstatement of the teacher as the basis for its strike action. But according to King, yesterday, he had even travelled to Berbice and had discussions with the Regional Education Officer, the parents of the flogged students, along with other regional officers and the Head Teacher of the school at which point a decision was made to put an end to the matter.According to the union president, there was unanimous agreement to have the matter put to rest but however lamented that a contrary report was subsequently presented to the Education Ministry.Efforts to corroborate the union president’s disclosure proved futile yesterday.King said that he learnt that the Regional Education Officer,Cheap Jerseys China, Ms Shafiran Bhajan, had related to the Ministry that the union was not cooperating in the quest to have the matter as it relates to the teacher to be settled,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, a version the union president opined was promptly accepted by Education Minister, Shaik Baksh.For this reason,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, King said, the union was forced to engage strike action to signal its disappointment at the way the discussions turned out.“And so persons, particularly the media, did not get a clear understanding of why we (the union) have been protesting. We sat and we had discussions; we all agreed on the way forward.”According to King, the GTU is of the opinion that if there was a change of heart, efforts should have been made to communicate this change to the union.And until the matter is totally resolved by the TSC,China Jerseys Free Shipping, King said that the union will continue to protest the level of dishonesty which has been evident in the system.“I cannot work where there is trend of dishonesty. Is this what we are teaching our students now? …If this is what we show them it is exactly what they will do in the long run.”King said that he was calling on the Minster of Education to directly address the state of affairs even as he urged that the Minister operate by the same letter of the law for every school.He said that the union will be elated if the Minister engages such a principle but speculated that should the same rule of law be administered countrywide, several schools will without a doubt have to be closed.In the meantime, a hearing into the matter by the TSC is scheduled for today and, according to King, he will be fully representing the teacher at the heart of the fracas.The outcome of the TSC deliberation will determine whether the teacher is reinstated or her service be terminated.Meanwhile, at a press conference last Tuesday,Cheap Stitched MLB Jerseys, he had stated that the union will move to industrial action, if the teacher is not reinstated. While he did outline the dishonesty of the Regional Education Officer, he did not indicate that dishonesty would be the reason for the strike.When contacted yesterday to clarify his position on the two different statements as it relates to the reason for the strike action, King admitted that he did state that the union would continue to strike until the reinstatement of the teacher,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, although he once again noted that what the teacher did was wrong. |
