Former Region Three Chairman Esau Dookie has taken up a position to head the Saraswat Primary School after receiving a letter of introduction from the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), despite opposition from the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU).
Dookie confirmed last week that he had been given his letter by the commission and although he had not yet received an official letter of appointment, this would be forthcoming in view of the letter of introduction. He assumed duties on the first day of the new school term, January 2.
According to TSC procedures, Dookie will have to prepare a letter of assumption and send copies to the Region’s department of education and the TSC. The education department will then have to endorse the letter of assumption and forward the same to the TSC which will then issue Dookie with his official letter of appointment.
Stabroek News understands however that a meeting of primary head teachers from the Region has been planned for some time next week and Dookie’s new appointment among other issues is slated for discussion.
This newspaper had learnt that the TSC was divided on the matter of Dookie’s appointment following his application to head the school. By a majority decision the TSC decided to appoint Dookie as head of a Grade B school even although other members of the TSC argued that he was not eligible based on the criteria set out. Documents shown to this newspaper indicated that Dookie had neither resigned nor applied to the TSC for secondment when he became Chairman of the Region in 2001. Dookie in response said, “I wrote for my secondment since in 2001 and the TSC had granted me no follow-up, but I wrote them a letter about three months back and it is only this year [after his tenure as chairman ended] that I was granted the approval.” This was a reference to the letter signed by Principal Personnel Officer of the TSC Elsie Nedd and dated November 17 last year, which granted him approval for secondment from May 2, 2001 to October 31, 2006.
Dookie also copied his application to head a Grade A school to the PPP General Secretary and the Head of the Presidential Secretariat. He justified this by saying, “The fact that I was a political appointee and that I reverted back to my teaching career I didn’t see any problem copying my letter to them. It was only for them to be informed and not for action.” Dookie further said that neither Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon nor PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar was a member of the commission, so he could not see why the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) would think that he was seeking favours. Dookie served as regional chairman for Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) for five years (from 2001 to 2006) and was not re-elected by the councillors of the region.
According to the GTU Dookie did not do the honourable thing and resign after he was appointed chairman in 2001 and so when his tenure was up, “he was left hanging.”
Prior to his appointment as chairman, Dookie had been a Grade E non-graduate headmaster attached to the Western Hog Island Primary School. In a letter dated October 10 last year, Dookie sought promotion to a Grade A school, or if none were available, to a Grade B school. Reports reaching this newspaper said that the TSC was unable to reach a consensus on Dookie’s proposed elevation with four members voting for and three against him being appointed a Grade B headmaster.
A policy decision taken by the Guyana Teachers Union and the Ministry of Education requires a candidate for appointment to head a grade B primary school to be: a) a trained Grade One/Class One teacher; (b) the head of a Grade C or Grade D primary school; and (c) the deputy head of a Grade A or Grade B primary school. Prior to his appointment as regional chairman, Dookie said, he had served as a Grade One/Class One teacher for eight years and was subsequently appointed Grade E headmaster at Western Hog Island Primary school where he served for 11 years. Dookie also pointed out in his letter to the TSC that before his secondment to the region he had been due for a promotion to at least a Grade D school, and if he had been given that opportunity he was confident that he would have been promoted subsequently to a Grade A school.
Contacted previously for a comment on the issue TSC Chairman Richard Mangar said that the commission was an autonomous body empowered by the constitution and was therefore not answerable to anyone.
But the GTU maintains that Dookie is unqualified to head the Saraswat Primary School and yesterday Administrative Officer Lance Baptiste told this newspaper that the union was in the process of drafting its letter to Mangar voicing its disapproval about developments in relation to Dookie.
