Teachers in GB frustrated with education ministry

Sat, Aug 6th 2011, 08:15 AM

FREEPORT Several persons awaiting appointment as teachers gathered at the Ministry of Education's offices yesterday seeking further clarification on their pending placements and complaining that the process has taken too long.
According to the applicants, they were notified that they would be placed at certain schools, many of them in Family Islands. However, they were not informed of how travel or accommodation arrangements would be handled.
One of the complainants, Berylyn Smith, said she felt that it was unfair for the ministry to be taking this long to provide details of their appointments, as it would mean they would have short notice to plan.
"Our concern is that the first week in August is just about gone. We only have a few weeks left to get into the school year. Some of us have to go off island, and we also have families. We not only have to prepare ourselves to move, we have to prepare classrooms," she said.
"We have to find out what grade levels we will be teaching so that whatever we teach will be age and developmentally appropriate."
She said they attempted to obtain this information from the Ministry of Education, but they have been given the runaround.
"Basically we just want some answers. I feel it's only fair. It's only right. Tell us some basic things," she said.
The Freeport News contacted Director of Education Lionel Sands who said there was an explanation for the length of time the process is taking.
"We have received from those teachers their applications and all the necessary documentation for consideration. Those have been sent to the Department of Public Service for what we call establishment clearance, and also to the Ministry of Finance for financial clearance," he said.
"Until such time as we received those clearances, those teachers cannot be considered as hired teachers. And that's the process that we have to go through whenever we are hiring teachers or hiring anybody for the public service. So (the Ministry of) Education doesn't have control over when we get the financial clearance or the establishment clearance. There are agencies involved that would kind of slow the process down, but that's understood."
In addition to those parts of the process, Sands added that all applicants must be vetted by police.
"These things take time, and so I don't know why the teachers are upset that they haven't received anything yet when they should recognize that there is a process that we have to go through in order for them to be hired," he said, adding that usually the approvals come around the third week in August.
Sands advised the teachers to be patient, and said they should not be worried about there being enough time to make arrangements.
"We would give them the time. We don't force them to rush. If it is that we are late in getting the information to them, they would be given the required time that they need to arrange for them to get to where they are going and they will not be penalized for that," Sands said.
The Freeport News spoke with the complainants later in the day, who indicated that they had since met with District Superintendent Sandra Edgecombe, and they were "somewhat appeased."
 

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