The Ministry of Educational Transformation and the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) remain at odds over a few schools not being ready for reopening this week.
Along with the last-minute relocation of pupils from Wesley Hall Junior School, there were also issues at Princess Margaret Secondary School and Frederick Smith Secondary School.
A senior educator, who requested anonymity, queried how the ministry seemed to have been caught unawares.
“The Ministry of Educational Transformation is the entity that signed off on the summer works, so surely they must have been in communication with the persons who were carrying out the work. So it just seems very strange that they were not aware of the progress of the work.
“If they start late, it would indicate that it’s impossible to finish by the beginning of the school term. Wouldn’t you say that there’s a difference between schools being open at the beginning of the term and schools being ready for the beginning of the term? That is my question.”
The source wondered whether the ministry was truly listening to principals, adding no principal wanted bad press for his or her school.
However, Minister Chad Blackman told the Saturday Sun last night that the ministry, along with the BUT, initially gave the all-clear for schools to reopen, but issues arose late.
“The BUT toured with us before school had started and said that schools were also ready. So it wasn’t just the ministry saying so.
“This was a joint touring team observing what was happening. Were there some challenges that happened after school commenced? Absolutely. And that’s what we faced when we fixed things this week,” he said.
“The point I’m making is that when the ministry said schools were ready, it wasn’t just us saying so. It was also the BUT, as the vicepresident and head of the health and safety committee, Julian Pierre, said the same thing regarding readiness, independent of us, unprompted.
Continuing work
“Did a few challenges arise after all the schools were opened in the country? That they did. But the vast majority started without any hitch whatsoever, and my team is continuing to work to ensure that things are running smoothly, and should any issue arise, we face it and fix it decisively. That commitment I give to the country.”
When contacted, Pierre said the BUT never gave its blessing for all schools to be reopened. He acknowledged
he had toured with ministry officials but maintained they always had reservations.
“The BUT praised the work that the ministry did with the ETMU (Education Technical Management Unit) throughout the school year.
“We also gave blessings for some projects which had started earlier. When I gave an earlier interview to the media in August, I said I visited about 30 schools and from what I saw then, it appeared as though those would finish. However, I had not visited all. Obviously, in visiting more schools, we realised that some work had started late.
“We always implore upon the Ministry of Education that we know summer is every July and August, so just organise for the work in schools to begin as soon as vacation starts.
“There was no blessing for the reopening of all the schools. We did give praise where it was due, but for the lateness of the completion of work and the late reopening of some schools, causing teachers to be online and to be relocated off-site, there was no blessing there. There was always concern,” he said.
Pierre said work at one of the schools with issues, Princess Margaret Secondary School in Six Roads, St Philip, had started late. He noted that when this occurred, the work was supposed to be completed either on weekends or during the next vacation period, adding that no contractor could continue work without the go-ahead of its employer, in this case, the Ministry of Educational Transformation.
“There was the assurance by the permanent secretary that all schools would be ready by September 1. When we checked, more than 30 per cent of the schools being worked on for the summer were not ready. Then another assurance was given by September 8.
“The weekend coming on to September 8, we expressed concerns because we were visiting schools up to the Sunday evening before the start of school, checking to see if those schools would open on time.”
Pierre said the BUT was not against the ministry and simply wanted to ensure the smooth running of schools with as few interruptions, due to safety and health issues, as possible. (CA)
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