Why is TTUTA defending Supervisors?

THE EDITOR: In championing the cause of school supervisors Mr Trevor Oliver declared “School supervisors are being cheated and we will do everything to ensure that they get their just due.” (Newsday June 23, 03) p 4, “TTUTA President Howls: Cheat!”)

It is wrong for the president of TTUTA to use the annual pay of primary and secondary schools’ principals and to compare this with that of school supervisors, thereby justifying the need for school supervisors to be paid more, or to get an increase. What about the much advertised criteria used to pay teachers and principals in the last negotiations when teachers/principals were delinked from the public service. Does it not now apply to school supervisors? This in itself exposes how superficial it was in the first place and the sellout of secondary school teachers that is the present Teacher III. But then in that negotiation our good association argued for future teachers, that is, people who are not even members of TTUTA. Teachers in the service for many years were sold out. A comparison with the initial pay of new teachers with that of teachers in the service for ten, fifteen, twenty years will reveal the extent of the sellout. No attempt is being made to rectify this situation. Now, the President of TTUTA is announcing an agenda for action in defence of school supervisors who are not even members of TTUTA.

There is more to this than meets the eye. Mr Oliver reveals it. He argued that “we are not getting people going into supervisory service, and it is clearly unfair to them.” Clearly, this cannot be a reference to our ordinary primary and secondary school teacher. The reference here is to principals who do not want to be supervisors because their present pay is more than that of school supervisors. So Mr Oliver is really making a case for principals and the promotion of principals. Already principals and vice-principals enjoy the real benefits of the educational system in terms of payment and holidays and limited workload. They also get other rewards within the school. There is hardly a principal in the education system who exercises transparency in accounting matters. This lends itself to suspicion and even accusation of corruption. Areas of corruption are school fund raising activities and the operation of the school cafeteria. Some accept bribes for “favours.” The list is long. One wishes to suggest that teachers wake up and form associations to pursue their interests. TTUTA is serving many masters and, teachers’ interests have been sacrificed for the interests of principals, and now school supervisors.

KAMAL  PERSAD
Couva