TTUTA President knocks School indiscipline, fake news

President of the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Lynsley Doodhai, Friday knocked reports of an alleged conspiracy between the Ministry of Education and the association to terminate 600 Early Childhood Care (ECC) teachers and described the reports as “erroneous” and harmful.

Doodhai made the remarks during his opening remarks at the National Teachers Convention at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s and said he felt the need to address the reports before making his official statement as he believed it was a matter of urgency and called on the public to reject all insinuations of a conspiracy with between TTUTA and the Ministry of Education.

“A lot of misinformation has been put out there in the media with respect to TTUTA and I consider those statements to be disparaging, those statements alleged that the association was in a conspiracy with the Ministry of Education to send home 600 ECC teachers and a number of other statements. To begin with there are under 400 ECC positions in the government and government assisted centres so this statement is an erroneous one.”

On the issue of marking School Based Assessments (SBAs), Doodhai said the various bodies of TTUTA have been trying to work towards compensating teachers for their efforts.

He confirmed that the association delivered a pre-action protocol letter to the Chief Personnel Officer and was given 28 days to withdraw advice given to the ministry.

“From my calculation that 28 days will expire next week and our attorneys have already been given instructions, once the CPO does not respond and withdraw the advice, that the courts may approach to adjudicate on that matter, so we are in the process of preparing our affidavits and arguments.

“Our position is clear that the marking of SBAs which is part of an external assessment is not part of the job of a secondary school teacher and if it has to be done, the teachers must be compensated.”

Doodhai also said there was a need to address the issue of school violence, remarking on the recent arrest and charging of students at a Princes Town secondary school, he said while such a move was welcome, he urged parents to play a more inclusive role in their children’s education and take the necessary steps to prevent indiscipline in the home.