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alexk
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The Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) has instructed the Ministry of Education not to pay secondary school teachers for the marking of School-Based Assessments (SBA) papers, as this forms part of their responsibility.
Teachers who fail to comply with this directive can face disciplinary action.
The announcement was made yesterday at a press conference hosted by Education Minister Anthony Garcia at his ministry’s headquarters in Port-of-Spain.
However, in response, the president of the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Lynsley Doodhai has promised to challenge the CPO and the ministry’s decision in court next month.
In April, Doodhai had warned Garcia that teachers would not be marking students School-Based Assessments (SBAs) at the beginning of the new academic year in September unless they are paid.
Garcia said when TTUTA raised the matter four months ago, the ministry sought advice from the Attorney General, who in turn referred the issue to the CPO for her opinion.
Garcia said the CPO advised that “the marking of SBAs form part of the duties of secondary school teachers. Failure to perform the said duties may result in disciplinary action under the code of conduct of the Education Teaching Service Regulations Chapter 39.01.”
He said based on the CPO’s response, the ministry meet with TTUTA and outlined its position.
“Their response was, well, thanks very much. In fact, it is interesting to note that one of the things we were told by TTUTA was that the Jamaican teachers will now be paid for writing the SBAs, but that decision was arrived at through negotiations between the union and the CPO in Jamaica,” Garcia said.
Garcia, however, offered a suggestion to TTUTA that they can put forward a recommendation for such payments when they engage in discussions for an increase in salaries for teachers.
In a telephone interview, Doodhai said they “very soon will be issuing a pre-action protocol letter, in the first instance, the Ministry of Education and CPO with respect to payment of teachers for the marking of SBAs. We intend to pursue this matter to the end under the legal system.”
“Teachers are only responsible for marking of internal examinations set by us,” Doodhai said.
He said before the end of September, TTUTA’s attorneys will take the matter to court.
Doodhai said TTUTA was in total disagreement with the CPO’s advice.
He said the markings of SBAs for CSEC and CAPE subjects are external examinations set by the Caribbean Examinations Council.
On August 30, Doodhai said TTUTA’s general council will also meet to discuss the matter further.
Questioned how much money the teachers were asking for, Doodhai said “it’s not really a question of the quantum. What we have been saying all along it is a very tedious task to do SBAs and teachers cannot do that during the school time. We are also saying it is not the job of the teacher.”
Doodhai said they are willing to meet with the ministry and the Caribbean Examination Council to discuss how much should be paid.