Education Minister Dr. Henry Jeffrey at a press conference yesterday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) said based on feedbacks the strike “has had some success.”

However, the minister deemed the strike as being irresponsible based on what has transpired between the Education Ministry and the GTU during negotiations.

Giving a background to the strike scenario, Dr. Jeffrey said that the Ministry is not against arbitration but after the matter had reached the Chief Labour Officer and discussions broke down, the GTU did not turn up for a meeting that was fixed for December 18 last year to discuss the arrangements and modalities for the establishment of arbitration.

He said the explanation given by the GTU for not attending the meeting was that it could not gather its officials together. This, the minister said was surprising because of the importance of the issue and the Union was aware of the scheduled meeting.

Dr. Jeffrey explained that the unilateral payment of five to fifteen percent on salaries by the Ministry was made in the context of being under pressure from the Treasury to clear all payments before the end of last year but this did not however, preclude referring the dispute to arbitration.

He disclosed that the Union was requested to put forward proposals for a three-year package early last year but it delayed the issue and only put forward its proposals until October last year.

He further explained that it was conveyed to the GTU that the Education Ministry “did not control the purse” and as such could not make the decision to pay. Consequently, the Ministry proposed that the Union form a strategic alliance with it and collectively pursue the matter so as to create a stronger bargaining position when dealing with the “purse controllers,” noting too, that the GTU is represented on all the Boards within the education sector. The Union however, has not heeded this call, he said.

In response to a question about efforts to resolve the strike impasse, Permanent Secretary Hydar Ally informed the media that a meeting was scheduled yesterday afternoon with the Chief Labour Officer and representatives of the Union and the Ministry to explore ways out of the impasse.

The minister said in accordance with the laid down procedures and regulations, teachers would not be paid for the days that they are on strike.

As regards the walking out from classes by students without permission in a march led by the St. Joseph’s High School, Chief Education Officer, Ed Caesar said the matter is being investigated by the Georgetown Department of Education.

GTU has called on its membership to strike two days per week with effect from yesterday, until its demand for the implementation of arbitration to resolve the dispute with the Education Ministry surrounding the issue of salary increases and working conditions are met.

Ally disclosed that on the allowance during Whitley Council leave, the Ministry has budgeted for this and is making every effort to begin payment of the allowances as from this year. The other contentious issues raised by the GTU such as hardlying allowance and payment for additional qualifications, he said they are being addressed by the Government.

In relation to special allocation of house lots for teachers, Ally said the proposal is under consideration.

Dr. Jeffrey also informed the media that the Education Ministry is in the process of implementing several strategies aimed at improving the literacy and numeracy of primary school pupils to better prepare them for secondary education.

One such strategy, he said was the introduction of continuous national assessment at Grades 2, 4, and 6. The weighting of the assessments will be 20% at Grade 2 and 40% each at Grades 4 and 6.

NCERD which is headed by Mr. Mohandatt Goolsarran will be responsible for the administration of all elements of the national assessments.