Citizen Sinanan

“The belly has gotten a little bigger since I have been in this post,” former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA ) Davanand Sinanan joked, pointing to his growing stomach.

On his final day as TTUTA president, last Monday, Sinanan, 52, who cultivated a reputation for candour and diplomacy during his six years at the helm of the association, said he was anxious to once again become Citizen Sinanan.

The post of TTUTA president, he said, made him “lose my anonymity.” “As TTUTA president, I had to be conscious of where I went, what I did, how I behaved,” he said.

“I was always cognisant of the fact that I was the leader of a teachers’ union and never wanted to bring the association into disrepute.

“I wanted to consistently project that professional image for teachers and the association.

Teachers needed to see themselves as professionals and I tried to lead by example.” The river lime Sinanan has envisioned, though - involving a few of his closest friends from the St Patrick Educational Division - must take place before December 1 when he is expected to again re-assume duties as principal of his alma mater, Palo Seco Secondary School.

Sinanan, who served an eightmonth stint as principal of the school in 2013, ahead of his second term as TTUTA president, said he was looking forward to his assignment, confident that the foundation had already been laid.

Sinanan said he must reacquaint his thinking to the “nuances of school life as I prepare mentally to go back.” Barring his impending appointment, Sinanan said he had no immediate plans for the future.

“I am tired. The presidency took a lot out of me,” Sinanan said in an interview at the union’s headquarters, Southern Main Road, Curepe, while sending off a few e-mails and tying up other loose ends.

Describing his final moments in office as “bittersweet,” Sinanan said he was disappointed the long-awaited Teachers’ Centre, currently in the pipeline, did not become a reality under his watch.

Sinanan, who began his tenure as TTUTA president in March 2010, under the banner of the TNT (The New TTUTA ), said he also was unable to restructure effectively the administrative systems within the union’s head office.

He told Sunday Newsday: “It is not very efficient. Our productivity level is not what it ought to be.

On the issue of productivity and quality of service, there is still a lot of work to be done.” Sinanan acknowledged, however, that changing the culture in organisations can sometimes be a difficult task.

“There was that resistance and that really bothered me,” he said.

Outside of issues relating to the union’s internal administrative structure, Sinanan said over the past six years, he has often challenged the Ministry of Education to ensure that schools are safe, secure and up to internationally- accepted standards.

The 2009 Teacher of the Year described as “pathetic,” the government bureaucracy in addressing urgent teacher-related matters, saying the situation represented what he considered to be “a vicious cycle of inefficiency throughout the system.” “It was very frustrating. There were items on the agenda like a recurring decimal,” he said.

A vocal Sinanan also listed, among his peeves, what he regarded as the “dysfunctional state” of the education system.

He observed: “The system is focussed on certification and not the education of human beings. It certifies more people as failures than successes. I will continue advocacy for this radical transformation.” On a brighter note, the proud Penal native regarded his elevation to the executive board of Education International (EI), the world’s governing body for teacher- based trade unions, as one of his highlights in office.

Head-quartered in Brussels, Belgium, Sinanan said the EI represents some 32 million teachers and education sector workers in over 180 countries.

“That has been quite an achievement for someone from a small union in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

“As a member, I am now in a position to influence people in a global context.” Sinanan, who holds a Bachelors degree in Botany, said he also has been able to build on the work of his predecessors in gaining greater recognition for TTUTA through the Caribbean Union of Teachers.

“That has been a personal accomplishment for me,” he added.

Sinanan said the union also managed prudently its finances.

“We were able to manage finances in such a manner that the organisation is in a fairly healthy financial state, which is not where we got it. It was really in a precarious state.” “But we have been able to cut expenditure in some areas without impacting the delivery for service to members. The balance sheet is quite healthy and we were able to do that as a team.” Saying he received tremendous support from TTUTA ’S Central Executive and Conference of Delegates over his stewardship, Sinanan is hoping that the new Lynsley Doodhai-led TTUTA will continue in this vein.

“The union has to be the leading voice for education in the country and be given that level of respect and recognition on education matters,” he said.

“The union has to be led in such a way that the respect is earned consistently.” Saying that education was dynamic, Sinanan said TTUTA has to ensure that it can re-invent itself consistently to treat with the ever-changing landscape. Regarding the sector, Sinanan called for a commitment to developing its human capital in the context of national development.

“There is need for us to rethink our notion of education and how the system needs to be restructured by way of critical thinking, problem solving and sustainable development to add value to the society,” he said.