Become self-sufficient

Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles is urging parents and residents to become self-sufficient in terms of resources at schools in their villages.

At a One-on-One town meeting at the Carnbee/Mt Pleasant Community Centre on Tuesday night, Charles, responding to a teacher’s complaint regarding lack of resources and damaged furniture at a school, said:

“I remember every vacation we used to scrub the desks before we leave school and when we return in September, the desks were in good condition.

“I don’t expect these infants to do that, but they have parents to take responsibility to ensure the materials their children have to use are in good working condition.”

Charles said parents must ensure that their children were provided with the necessary services so the state may not have to do so. Tobagonians must change their heavy dependence on the Tobago House of Assembly THA, he added.

Charles was responding to comments by Barbara Baynes, Public Relations Officer of the Carnbee/Mt Pleasant Village Council and a pre-school teacher for 36 years at the Carnbee/Mt Pleasant Early Childhood Centre who highlighted the lack of resources at the school.

“I am getting tired of asking my brother to temporarily repair the desks for the children to sit. We cannot have a robust education system if I have to be tacking chairs often. We had a march two weeks ago by teachers and these were some of their concerns amongst other things,” Baynes said.

She said she attended workshops where lack of resources were discussed and has complained to Education officials but got no redress.

“In January, I didn’t think about opening school because I am fed up and if education starts at the early childhood level and we are not getting basic things that we need, how are we going to move forward?

You said our Division is the lowest in education (seventh out of eight school districts). How can it be the highest if we don’t have chairs and tables to sit on?”

Baines also spoke about the unavailability of basic school supplies.

The cleaners didn’t have cleaning agents and I have to give her money to buy products. This is not my duty but as the teacher in charge I have to take it upon myself to have the place clean and sanitised for the next day. If I knew being the head of the school would have taken so much I would have declined because I am fed up.

Baynes also human resources human resources problems.

“I don’t know why the Division is bringing people who are 60 to 70 years to work and draw a lump sum of money when you have young teachers who recently graduate from the universities and can’t get a work. These older teachers are making my life hell.

“They are saying the school is owned by the Village Council, but the Village Council doesn’t pay me. They are telling me I must report everything I do to the Village Council.”

Charles promised Baynes that officials at Education Division will investigate the matter, adding, “teaching is a particular skill, now everybody feel they can teach but I tell you it’s not as simple.

“Our results have not been supported by the quality of teaching that we expect. There is one school with a little over 30 students for nine teachers, which means one teacher to four students and that school sent four students to do SEA where three scored under 30 percent.”

Charles said the THA made a decision some years ago not to renew the contracts of senior doctors at the Tobago Regional Health Authority because there were a number of new graduates in the area of medicine. He said currently there were a number of inexperienced doctors at the hospital, adding that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

Charles also said the Division of Education has partnered with the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment to make use of the skills at the Works Department to repair damaged desk and benches, that the Division cannot buy new furniture at this time.

He advised teachers to ensure the schools’

property was protected.

Another retired teacher asked that opportunities be created for young teachers who recently completed their bridging programmes. She said her daughter completed the programme from the University of the Southern Caribbean but was still waiting to be appointed to a position.

Charles said the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) has agreed to offer the bridging programme to Tobago teachers for free and once it was completed, it was up to the Teaching Service Commission to make the appointments.

Two weeks ago, over 200 teachers engaged in a protest march at the Division of Education’s head office at Dutch Fort, for action on some 24 issues, including lack of resources at schools.