Dear Editor,
It is with a heavy heart that I pen this letter. As an alumnus of Queen’s College (QC) I credit my teachers as being responsible for any success I have had. However, the present crop of teachers at QC are showing no solidarity with other teachers across Guyana who are struggling to make ends meet. They continue to go to work. This sends a wrong signal to their students, parents, other teachers, the populace and the government. They are teaching their students that empathy and compassion are not worthy qualities.
Former teachers and Heads of QC such as Aida Akai aka Aunty Aida, Eddie London, Lynette Dolphin aka Dollo, M.T.Lowe (former Headmaster and Chief Education Officer), Doodnauth Hetram (former Headmaster), E.R. Burrowes, Creswell Barker and Mr. Yhap et al, would be turning in their graves due to the fear or complacency of those teachers who are not joining in such a good cause as the present teachers’ strike.
To make it worse, a former Headmaster, Clarence Trotz is still alive and is the author of the recent publication, “A History of The Queen’s College Of Guyana.” Having earned my admiration and knowing his personality, it is my belief that he would be as upset as I am. Furthermore, it is making a mockery of the now hackneyed slogans of “One Guyana” and “One people, One Nation and One Destiny.”
I would like to address the teachers’ strike for better wages (a living wage), which has been ongoing for months. Are the teachers at these top schools content with their salaries which would be higher than those paid to teachers at other schools? Why would they not want to jump on the bandwagon to obtain an increase, knowing that the cost of living continues to rise? Have they been lulled into a false sense of security by being at a top school? Or are they adopting a supercilious stance due to teaching at a top school, hence frown on joining a picket line?
Or are they being coerced to remain on the job? For decades they have not joined in meetings called by the Teachers’ Union. Teachers at the private schools are not paid from the public coffers, so they, nor their students are affected.
Whatever the outcome of the strike, those students who have been unable to have classes, will undoubtedly suffer through their diminished performances at exams and ultimately, in securing well – paying jobs and satisfying careers. The privileged attending the top schools will most likely migrate after graduation and the cycle of brain drain and incompetency in the management of the Guyanese society will be perpetuated.
The government is making excuses as usual for not giving the increase being asked for by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) or a sum near to that. Are teachers being intimidated by the threat of non-payment of salaries while on strike, despite Judge Sandil Kissoon’s ruling? He ruled that teachers must be paid while they are on strike. Is the Judicial branch of government no longer being given the authority and respect it deserves?
Sincerely,
Conrad Barrow
