The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has started to investigate a complaint of unfair treatment by Vreed-en-Hoop Primary School Headmaster Alvin Johnson following his request to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) for a promotion.
Johnson believes he was discriminated against by the TSC and felt that an incident at another school he once headed influenced the commission’s decision.
However, Chief Executive Officer of the ERC Christine King said that for now the ERC is limited to following up with the TSC.
King said she wrote to the TSC and requested an explanation but the TSC told her that Johnson’s matter had been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Chambers for advice. She said the ERC’s rules dictate that it might not venture further into the matter because the AG’s advice has been sought, though she was not sure why the matter was taken to the Attorney General.
“So we would basically have to wait on the TSC to update us and we will be able to find out what the Attorney General said,” King said.
Around two weeks ago, Johnson received a letter from the TSC, following months of delay, which said it found no valid reason to vary its decision not to grant his application to be promoted to headmaster of the Leonora Primary School.
This newspaper was unable to make contact with TSC Chairman Richard Mangar last week for a comment on this latest move as the receptionist advised that the TSC had been dissolved and Mangar was “technically off the job”.
TSC Secretary Francesca Vieira said she was not aware of the matter being taken to the Attorney General’s Chambers and was unable to provide any further information in this regard.
When he was contacted on the matter, prior last week’s letter to Johnson, Mangar had said that this newspaper “could comment on the issue at it sees fit” but “the matter was dealt with before and so the commission considers the matter closed”. Johnson had been the headmaster of Saraswat Primary in Region Three when allegations had surfaced in January last year that a male teacher at that school had sexually assaulted a female student. Some parents felt that Johnson had not handled the issue properly.
According to reports, most of the teachers subsequently sought transfers since some of them had received threats to their lives and Johnson was also transferred to head the Greenwich Park Primary School.
Johnson feels this may have influenced the TSC’s decision not to appoint him to head the Leonora Primary School, although he was qualified.
To support his case, Johnson noted that Guyana Teachers’ Union nominee George Cave had informed the union that when interviewed he (Johnson) had the highest score of all the applicants and should have been awarded his first preference to head Leonora Primary.
However, the Leonora Cultural Society had written a letter to the TSC, which this newspaper has seen, making known its preference for having Gurdat Persaud instead of Alvin Johnson, head the school. Persaud was later appointed.
