TTUTA president-elect hits the ground running

President-elect of the TT Unified Teachers' Association Antonia De Freitas already has her plate full with issues to deal with in her new portfolio.

De Freitas, a senior teacher at (St Charles) Tunapuna Girls’ RC School, made history by being elected the first female head of the union, ahead of two other women – Upper Carapichaima Presbyterian Primary School principal Nirmala Chinebas-Dindial, and Eastern Boys’ Government School principal Jemima Riley.

The election was held on Tuesday when over 11,000 TTUTA members cast their votes. A recount is scheduled for 10 am on Thursday. De Freitas said this has been done in the past and it was the candidates' right to request it.

Asked about any shortcomings of the previous executive, De Freitas said any description would have to come from the membership.

"I would not want to pronounce on that, but I know as far as this teachers' union is concerned, we have always attempted to put aside differences and work together in the best interest of teachers, and I don't see that being any different on this occasion."

On the union's way forward, De Freitas said seeing that the candidates all came from different teams, they will have to meet and develop a strategic path forward to determine its short-, medium- and long-term goals. She said salary negotiations, issues in schools and engaging all members, wherever they were to hear their concerns were high on the to-do list.

School violence is still prevalent in some schools and De Freitas intends to treat with this issue head-on.

"Even when I was first vice president, I would have advocated the schools to make sure to have a comprehensive discipline matrix based on the Education Ministry's code of conduct. That discipline matrix would always need to be consistently applied to maintain positive discipline and to address areas of indiscipline.

"However, we would also want to engage the ministry to provide the necessary support for teachers in dealing with students."

She said there were mental health issues among students as well as teachers. Behavioural challenges were increasing and in most instances, teachers would not have necessarily been trained to specialise in dealing with such situations.

"This would mean engaging not only the ministry, but the Children's Authority, the Health Ministry and other stakeholders, to ensure that we come up with sound support mechanisms and intervention plans to deal with such matters."

Salary negotiations will continue with the Chief Personnel Officer, she assured. TTUTA recently held a rally in Port of Spain after the CPO failed to meet them to discuss a new collective agreement for teachers.

"That work has to be continued in the shortest possible time, so we will want to make sure we meet and treat with the CPO to get that salary matter resolved."

Noting the increasing number of security breaches in schools, De Freitas said this was a matter of urgency with the ministry and possibly the National Security Ministry.

She said the union will look into partnering with the police or local police stations to mitigate security breaches at schools and ensure the area in which schools are located are safe.