A Commission of Inquiry into the impasse between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education may be set up soon to deal with the striking teachers pressing for additional increases on their 2002 salaries.
In other developments there are signs that some teachers and students are returning to schools.
Reliable sources told Stabroek News that the commission members may be identified today and the commission established and provided with its terms of reference.
When contacted yesterday, Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr Dale Bisnauth told Stabroek News that he was looking at setting up of a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances that led to the impasse and to make recommendations on the way forward.
Bisnauth, himself a former minister of education, said that he felt the establishment of the commission was the direction in which to go as many children had examinations to write.
Since the teachers took strike action three weeks ago, the Chief Labour Officer Mohamed Akeel has facilitated two meetings between the union and the ministry but both had failed to move from their original stance. The union is insisting on arbitration and the ministry is refusing to go that route.
The GTU called on its membership to strike for two days each week starting on March 5 to back their demands for additional increases in salaries for 2002. The teachers received increases ranging from 5% for the trained teachers and senior staffers, to 15% for those in the lower categories. The 15% increase for the lower level categories of teachers still means that some will receive salaries below that of the traditional public servant’s minimum wage.
However, the increases were not agreed on and talks broke down at the point of conciliation with the GTU wanting to move to arbitration. Even before discussions on arbitration could have taken place, salary increases were paid.
The six-day strike has been effective over the three-week period but there were reports yesterday from some of the school’s administrative districts that some teachers and children had begun trickling back to school this week.
In Georgetown, most schools were closed with the exception of a few teachers who were working with children preparing for local and external examinations.
While staff at the Government Technical Institute and the Guyana Industrial Training Centre have taken strike action, the staff at the Cyril Potter College of Education were out in full force.
Region Four, excluding the Georgetown attendance by both teachers and students, was said to be about 50% and the same was said for Region Three. Reports from that region said that most of the schools on the West Bank Demerara had been shut yesterday but most schools and classes on the West Coast Demerara and Leguan and Wakenaam were functioning.
From Region Two, reports were that the situation was “50/50” with at least SSEE children being catered for.
In Region One most of the schools at Mabaruma, Hosororo, Moruca, Port Kaituma and Matthew’s Ridge were shut down but the schools along the rivers were still functioning with their full complement.
A similar report came out of Region Nine yesterday which said that most of the outlying schools had not taken full strike action. The reports stated that primary and secondary schools had been closed at Lethem though the SSEE children were still being tutored and the nursery schools at Lethem had re-opened.
Reports out of Bartica said that the schools were open throughout the three-week period but classes, with the exception of SSEE classes, were not held. This newspaper could not ascertain the effects in the Upper Mazaruni and other riverain areas.
There were no reports from Region Eight but some schools in Region Five and Six which had been shut during the first two weeks of the strike period had opened their doors this week though activities were minimal. Some schools in both regions had remained open during the strike period.
Meanwhile the GTU President Sydney Murdock at a press conference earlier this week had said that if nothing was brokered between the union and the ministry the strike would continue into next week and the union could intensify its industrial action.
Education Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey has said that the ministry was currently re-viewing its agreement with the Guyana Teachers’ Union to deduct union dues given the teachers’ bargaining agent behaviour in the current industrial impasse. (Miranda La Rose)