According to the immediate past president of the Union Mr Lance Baptiste, the action yesterday was to bring to the fore the plight of the teachers. It was also a show of solidarity by teachers from the hinterland. He alleged that the Ministry of Education has been peddling the lie that the strike was not being supported by teachers from the hinterland, hence yesterday’s activity in which teachers from those communities participated.

Baptiste said that even though schools will be re-opened next Monday, the Union has not heard from the Ministry. He stated, too, that the report from the Advisory Committee established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the strike has been completed.

The Unionist accused the Ministry of Education of not being concerned about the negative impact the situation is having on the delivery of education, even though education is the “backbone of everything.”

Baptiste said the GTU had also written President Bharrat Jagdeo on the issue. At the time, the President was about to leave the country. It was understood that Mr Jagdeo had asked Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon to look into the matter, but Luncheon has since handed back the matter to the Minister of Education stating that he was not in a position to deal with it, Baptiste explained.

Asked if the demonstration would continue, Baptiste said that at the conclusion of yesterday’s activity the teachers would take a decision whether or not to continue.

However, Minister of Education Dr. Henry Jeffrey in a comment to the Chronicle said now that the report of the Advisory Committee has been completed he is awaiting advice from the Ministry of Labour as to the next steps to be taken in the resolution of the dispute. He added that he is as anxious as anybody else to have the matter amicably resolved.

On the issue of not being in contact with the Union, Minister Jeffrey retorted that likewise the Ministry has not heard from the GTU since the establishment of the Advisory Committee. He pointed out, however, that the Ministry was awaiting the outcome of the report before taking further steps to initiate a settlement.

Following a deadlock in negotiations between the Ministry of Education and the GTU to resolve the teachers strike, the Labour Ministry intervened by setting up a three-man Advisory Committee to investigate the circumstances of the strike with the aim of resolving it to the mutual satisfaction of both parties.

The Committee comprising former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Martin Boodhoo, Industrial Relations Officer, Francis Carryl and the Bursar of the University of Guyana John Seenan, recently completed its report, which has since been presented to Prime Minister Sam Hinds