Protests dominate 2005

The year in education was filled with more problems than solutions, with protests dominating the sector. There were protests at several primary and secondary schools to highlight poor school conditions and teacher absenteeism. The latter was a grave issue which the Ministry of Education sought to address by introducing incentive awards. The ministry even pushed back the establishment of the substitute teachers programme to concentrate on the problem. At the tertiary level, there were also protests. First lecturers at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) stayed away from classes for several days to show their disgust with salary negotiations and, later medical students raised their voices in dismay over proposed increased fees. Both issues were eventually settled. There was also the announcement of free tertiary education from January 2006 and students continued to excel at the GCE Advanced Level examinations, with 43 local students being ranked on the top ten list. Following are the stories which made news for each month:

January: Teachers started off the year on a financial high, receiving increased salaries at the end of the month, and back pay, as a result of the three-year collective agreement for the period 2002 to 2005. The agreement was signed in August 2004. The agreement expired in September. The St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) introduced for the first time in 30 years, the Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. The campus also saw industrial action in latter January, as members of the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT)  held “red days” and “black days” of protest over the delay in the university signing a new collective agreement. Then Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Colm Imbert, tried to stave off the protest but failed, as WIGUT members shut down the campus delaying exam results for students. The union was demanding a 30 percent increase in basic salaries for the period 2002 to 2005.

February:  Normalcy returned to the campus by Carnival Friday, when WIGUT settled for a 15 percent increase in salaries, a three percent regional allowance and enhanced allowances for book grants, travel and sabbatical leave. Parents and students of the Brasso Seco RC School protested their school conditions. They complained of not having electricity at the dilapidated school building. They had been lobbying for a new school for several years. The protest was the first of several by various schools during the year.

March: The Belmont Boys’ RC school was shut down by the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) because of unsafe conditions. There were reports of gambling and smoking on the compound of the Tranquility Government Secondary School with teachers calling on the Ministry of Education to deal with indiscipline. Students of a Standard Three class at the Bourg Mulatresse RC school protested about the absence of a teacher and parents and students of the Monkey Town Government primary cried out for a new school building. The National Council of the Early Childhood Care and Education Centres (ECCEC) was inaugurated with Education Minister Hazel Manning promising that construction of 43 ECCEC’s would start.

On the St Augustine campus of the UWI, allegations of corruption and misconduct were levelled against Guild President Glenn Ramadharsingh by his Secretary Fallon Lutchmansingh. A student protest outside the administrative offices later forced the postponement of the Guild elections to April. Nominations were also scrapped. UWI Principal Dr Bhoe Tewarie at the annual campus meeting announced a reduction in crimes on the campus, compared to the last six years.

April: The UWI Guild elections continued to take centre stage, with outgoing president Glenn Ramadharsingh withdrawing from the electoral race. Fallon Lutchmansingh who made the allegations of misconduct against Ramadharsingh was later declared the new President. There was more protest at Belmont Boys’ RC, Pt Fortin Anglican Primary and Bourg Mulatresse over poor conditions and lack of teachers. The ministry responded saying its substitute teachers’ programme was not yet on stream and placed students of the Belmont Boys’ temporarily at the St Francis RC Church hall and at the St Martin’s RC school. Minister Manning announced the expansion of the textbook rental programme, to include more text books for primary school students.

May: Five hundred and fifty students were registered to write the Physical Education (PE) exams, introduced for the first year by CXC. Classes were being held in the sun and rain at the Arima West Government Primary school, as teachers expressed concern about the flooring at the school. After a teacher fell through a rotten floor board in one of the classrooms, the Ministry began repairs. At the nearby Arima Senior Comprehensive school, a fire was maliciously set in the boys’ bathroom resulting in minor damages. But school officials failed to call fire and police officers. Minister Hazel Manning later visited the school to meet with teachers about the problems at the school. A fire was also reported at the Chaguanas Senior Comprehensive school; Violence erupted at the Five Rivers Junior Secondary and there were more complaints about absent teachers, this time at the St Theresa’s RC school.

June: The La Pastora Government Primary school was closed because of the dilapidated conditions of the school building. Students were sent to the Caribbean Nazarene Theological College on a temporary basis. However problems with the sewer at the College forced students to stay at home. By the end of the month students returned to the College for half day school. The Ministry announced that an inter-disciplinary committee would be established to look into teacher absenteeism, while TTUTA reminded the ministry that it also had the option of cutting salaries. By the end of the month, the ministry said it was scrapping the substitute’s teacher programme to concentrate fully on dealing with absenteeism. It also announced the introduction of an incentive programme. More protests were reported at the Claxton Bay Anglican Junior Primary, the Lengua Presbyterian, Barrackpore and reports of numerous discipline problems at the El Dorado Senior Comprehensive school surfaced. In June there was also confirmation that GCE A’Levels will become obsolete by 2008 and the National Engineers Technicians Programme will replace several diploma programmes at John Donaldson and San Fernando Technical Institutes.

July: As the school year ended, Danielle Stewart, a student of the St Gabriel’s Girls RC school topped the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams, with girls again out performing boys and insecticide spray sent 19 students of the Robert Village Hindu School to hospital. August: GCE A’Level results are released to two Port-of-Spain schools days before the official results are released to schools. CXC results are also released and the Ministry says there was a 60 percent pass rate. The Ministry also announced that it spent $65 million to do repair works at 159 schools in preparation for the reopening of schools in September.

September: Schools officially re-open, but dozens remained closed for at least two weeks into the term, in spite of the ministry’s extensive vacation repair programme. Principal of the Arima Senior Comprehensive Cheryl Ann Wilkinson, was advised by the Teaching Service Commission not to report for duties until further notice. A senior dean at the school was appointed acting principal. Based on the results of the GCE A’Level exams, 43 students were ranked among the top 10 students in the world, with Hillview College student Amrik Kochhar placing first in Maths, Further Math and fourth in Physics. Kochhar was also among the 236 scholarship recipients, and the winner of the President’s Medal for Science, Math and Environmental Studies. Students at the Faculty of Medicine, UWI, St Augustine protested an increase in fees, as Government chastises the university’s administration for implementing the increases, when the proposal was still being evaluated.

Fr Gerry Pantin of Servol accuses the Ministry of trying to hijack the successful pre-school programme from the organisation, after an alleged secret meeting between ministry officials and Servol’s early childhood teachers. The ministry denies the allegations and in October Minister Manning together with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Archbishop Edward Gilbert, met and discussed the matter. All parties expressed satisfaction that there would be no hijack. Budget 2005/2006 announces the major initiative that Government would provide $320 million for free tertiary education from January 2006. The Government promised to pay tuition fees for all persons in Government tertiary institutions, and promised to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with private institutions to extend the same courtesies to their students.

October: This was the month of the Teacher and although it was nearing the end of the year, there was no letting up on school protests. Parents of 60 students of the Daniel Educational Community School protested outside the ministry after being told their children would have to stay at home, because the ministry did not pay their school fees. The parents claimed that the students got scholarships to the school. The ministry denied it owed fees, while the children remained at home. Students of the Arima Centenary primary school were told to stay at home as their parents deemed the school compound unsafe following the theft of a teacher’s handbag at the school. The Aranguez Government Secondary was also closed for several days because of electrical and flooding problems, and students of the Malick Senior Comprehensive were told to report for school on alternate days, because of the construction of additional classrooms at the school.

In the Budget debate, Hazel says that 75 percent of the pre-schools built by the UNC were faulty and again promised that construction of pre-schools would begin before the end of the year. She also promised that 5000 computers would be acquired to assist the schools’ technological capabilities and announced there was a marked improvement of discipline in schools. She said suspension notices were reduced by 50 percent. By the end of the month the minister announced that a Green Paper on “Standards for Operation” was being introduced for public comment. The document stemmed from the Kalifa Logan issue and will make it law that no child be denied entry into any private or public school, based on their race, religion, sex or language.

November: The St George East Primary Schools’ Principal’s Association slammed the Education Ministry for not providing the primary schools with direct funding, which would allow principals to deal with minor issues at their schools. The Association also accused the denominational school boards of withholding funds to principals, but Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) said that was false. The Ministry however agreed to put measures in place to allow primary schools to access direct funding.

Principal of St Francois Girls’ College, Patricia Mc Intosh, made a plea for the relocation of the school from the Belmont Valley Road. Speaking at the school’s achievement day function, she said there was too much crime in the area and bandits were using the school as a thoroughfare to the plannings. Tobagonian Phillip Rochford was named teacher of the year, while Marissa Badall, a former Naparima Girls’ College student was among five students short listed for a Rhodes Scholarship in the Caribbean region. Parents of students attending the Tranquility Government Primary school petitioned the Ministry of Education requesting answers about their new school. The students were relocated to the NUGFW and OWTU halls at Henry Street in February 2004, to allow the ministry to start construction of the new school. The school has been built but the students remain at the halls. December: The $8 million El Socorro South Government Primary school was formally opened after two sod turnings and six years of shared accommodation with the El Socorro Central Government primary schools. The green paper on standards for the operations at schools was laid in Parliament together with the draft white paper on standards for regulating early childhood services.