Bait and Switch: First 3 Days of Make-Up Will Involve Marking P.S.E.
Luke Palacio
To make matters worse, Palacio claims that the ministry is being disingenuous by requesting that teachers volunteer to mark Primary School Exams under the guise that they are attending workshops. The correcting of papers are scheduled to take place from Monday to Wednesday of next week, during the days set aside for teachers to make up time for the October protest.
Luke Palacio, National President, B.N.T.U.
“They are trying a new scheme, and we must expose that. They are saying to our teachers, you need to go and mark PSEs Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week but you must say that you are attending workshop called by the ministry. What kind of deceitful action is this, coming from our Ministry of Education personnel and our children will be seeing it. So it is not a matter of B.N.T.U. wanting to consistently be fighting or to be agitating and creating any mischief for the Ministry of Education. They are the ones who are fueling this fire. Who will be taking care of those children in those classrooms Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when their teachers are out marking P.S.E.? It was the ministry who insisted that they wanted these three full days. If they had agreed to our position, our request during the mediation, if they were forward thinking, they would know that the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when school is out for Easter break they will need teachers to go and mark P.S.E. You’ve paid the teachers, all the teachers have been paid, those who were on strike and those who were not on strike and had they agreed to that we would not have this situation where managements are now calling us. Managements are now showing, individuals are showing us letters from the District Education Centers asking them to have teachers volunteer or to submit their names to go and mark P.S.E. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.”
The Ministry of Education is continuing with its logistics ahead of the million dollar payout. B.N.T.U., on the other hand, is appealing to teachers not to accept the payment.
