300 teachers persistently late

He said the errant teachers were identified based on a method of progressive discipline.

Progressive discipline includes counselling, verbal and written warnings and then referral (of a complaint) to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education for transfer to the TSC. Deoraj said his office meets regularly with the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) about the unpunctuality and irregularity issues. TSC chairman Dr Fazal Ali said unpunctuality and irregularity resulted in a number of schools failing students in their Caribbean Examinations Council exams. Without naming them, he said, in two schools, 47 percent of students did not pass even one subject at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). The failure rate ranged from 31 percent to 56.3 percent between 2009 to 2015.

JSC member Khadijah Ameen said the failing rates were an indication that, “the TSC is failing the children”, teachers were frustrated, many children do not have teachers, and the criteria for appointing deans were cumbersome. In response, Ali said the TSC was not in charge of schools and it was not failing the children. The TSC, he said, cannot appoint deans if they do not pass the criteria.