In some areas especially along the East Coast of Demerara, minibuses have begun to reduce the number of trips to George-town and short drops as a result of the teachers’ strike which enters its 16th day today.
According to some sources, minibus operators are saying that with reduced numbers of students travelling they have been forced to curtail the number of trips along the coast and to Georgetown. Teachers across Guyana have been on a nationwide strike calling for better salaries and collective bargaining. The picket yesterday at the Ministry of Edu-cation, Brickdam, resonated with chants accompanied by African drumming.
In an interview with Stabroek News, President of the GTU, Mark Lyte said there has been a clear indication from the inception that teachers were ready to go back to their classrooms but they are awaiting the government’s response, through the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Labour, to initiate discussions on collective bargaining.
Lyte said that for the last fourteen days there has been a clear indication that government was unwilling to come to the bargaining table. Furthermore, the government is consciously acting inconsiderately, and in doing so, it is reflective (of how they) value educators. “Children across the nation (attending public schools) were unable to access quality education for 15 days while the government is yet to engage the union on the way forward,” Lyte said.
The GTU president also disagreed with those parents who opined that the teachers and union are unreasonable. “I think those parents are blindsided, they have not really gotten a clear understanding of what teachers go through. In fact, many of them see the school as a ‘daycare centre’ and the fact that they can’t drop their children off to school and [they] have to make alternative arrangement may have been the reason why some of them are saying that.”
Those parents who stood in solidarity with the teachers and the union were complimented for their support. “Those good parents who visit schools and understand the struggles of teachers recognize why we are here and they are with us, they are standing with us in solidarity and that is why many of them have been keeping their children at home because they recognize that the teachers are out here for a just cause.”
Member of Parliament and teacher Nima Flue-Bess told reporters yesterday that it is “disheartening to know that the government will take a position not to engage with the union to address the issue.” Flue-Bess added that she too is affected as a teacher because her children are at home even though they are anxious to return to school. “Happy teachers will bring happy students to the classrooms and so we want them to engage the union so that we could bring this matter to a close. Fifteen days is too long, getting up every morning to come out here is great strength and courage because you have to find someone to look [at] your kids and still come out here on the front line to let them understand that teachers have rights.”
Region Two
“So, pay we, we money let we go back to school, our children are waiting’’ was among the many chants heard as teachers of Region Two took the streets for the fifteenth day. Prayers started the day, and then the teachers proceeded to the Anna Regina High Bridge. Placards calling for better incomes to meet the rising cost of living were raised by protestors on the bridge. Their chants were complemented by African drumming.
