John D teachers protest UTT transfer

The teachers hit the pavement on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, outside the institute’s compound, yesterday in a placard demonstration backed by the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA).

TTUTA president Clyde Permell said the march was only a warning of the “fire” to come if Government did not heed their request to stop the transfer.

A battle is brewing between the union, Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education and the Ministry of Education over plans to place technical institutes and teachers’ training colleges under the UTT.

TTUTA accused the Government of ignoring the role of the union, going directly to teachers in an attempt to get them to sign contracts.

Permell said the union has made repeated attempts to schedule meetings with Education Minister Hazel Manning and permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education to discuss the transfers. However, there has been no response from either ministry.

“The very future of teachers at the technical institutes and teachers’ training colleges was at stake,” said Permell. He added that teachers needed to have “all options on the table.”

TTUTA members are expected to continue protesting outside the teachers’ colleges and technical institutes for the rest of the week.