TTUTA goes to court over marking SBAs

THE ONGOING wrangling between the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) and the Ministry of Education over the marking of school based assessments (SBAs) for students taking the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency (CAPE) examination will have its day in court.

The TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) has filed a claim in the High Court for it to resolve this contentious issue. Teachers have threatened not to mark the SBAs, saying it does not form part of their duties under their contracts and they are under no obligation to do so.

The Ministry of Education has threatened teachers with disciplinary action for failing to do so.

The union sought and received legal advice that the position of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), which sets and administers the two examinations for Forms Five and Six students and the MOE, was unlawful and unreasonable and not in the best interest of teachers, students and schools.

As a result, throught its attorneys Deborah Peake, SC, and Ravi Heffes-Doon, instructed by Kenniesha Wilon, TTUTA has filed a claim in the High Court seeking the court’s determination on five grounds.

The court is being asked to determine whether teachers, based on their contracts, are obligated to mark the SBAs, whether they should be compensated. and whether their refusal is a breach of the Code of Conduct of the Teaching Service Regulations.

The union also wants the court to state clearly whether the CXC has any power, authority or prerogative to determine the duties and obligations of teachers in relations to the marking of the SBAs. If this is indeed so, the body wants the court to spell out the nature and extent of power, authority or prerogative of CXC to determine these duties and obligations.

TTUTA’s president Lynsley Doodai said the union’s position is that marking SBAs, which are an integral component of the CSEC and CAPE examinations. is not part of teachers' jobs and they are not obliged to it.

He said this is a common position of trade unions across the Caribbean, and said the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT), the federation of trade unions in the Caribbean that represent teachers, has over the years repeatedly raised these very concerns with CXC.

“But these concerns have fallen on deaf ears. While CXC pays people who mark the written component of the CXC examinations and persons who review the marks awarded by teachers for SBAs, it has refused to remunerate teachers, who carry out the onerous duties associated with marking SBAs on behalf of CXC.”

He said the Jamaican government had recently decided to pay its teachers for marking CXC SBA scripts, contrary to the MOE’s position

“The MOE has taken the position that any teacher in the Teaching Service of TT who fails to mark SBAs will face disciplinary action. The obligation associated with the marking of SBAs in accordance with the stringent marking requirements imposed by CXC erodes the quality of teaching and disrupts the administration of schools.”

Doodhai said the marking cannot be completed during school hours and teachers have to use a substantial amount of their personal time, without being paid.

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