The Guyana Teachers' Union was yesterday still preparing its response to the labour ministry which urged the union to call off the teachers' strike while an advisory committee finds a solution to the impasse.
The advisory committee is to inquire into the dispute between the union and the Ministry of Education and is scheduled to hold its first meeting today.
Meanwhile, as the strike entered its tenth day yesterday, students who are preparing to sit the General Certificate of Education (GCE), Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations (SSEE) examinations, continued to attended classes. Attendance at some Georgetown schools also included some students who were unaware that the teachers' strike had extended beyond the initial two-day period which was planned for the first three weeks of the month.
Students, including some from Queen's College, St John's College, Christ Church Secondary, Richard Ishmael Secondary, St Margaret's Primary and Sacred Heart Primary showed up for classes but were forced to return home.
Some students could be seen hanging around on school grounds while others, some being escorted by parents, were by mid-morning returning home.
Contacted on developments in relation to breaking the impasse, GTU General Secretary, Avril Crawford reiterated the GTU's position that not until terms of resumption were agreed on would teachers be asked to return to work. He added that "there may not be any movement... maybe until weekend."
Meanwhile the Ministry of Education has begun to put some contingency plans in place to facilitate students preparing for the CXC and GCE examinations scheduled for May/June. This includes the hiring of part-time teachers and common classes being held.
At a press briefing, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Hydar Ally said that the ministry had received offers of help from a number of professionals who were interested in assisting the secondary students preparing for exams. An appeal to volunteers to assist may go out this weekend, he added.
Ally stressed that Common Entrance exams would be held as planned.
While it was observed that the majority of primary schools were working with their charges, most of the teachers said they were doing so out of concern for the children and not in response to the ministry's call. They emphasised that they did not want to be seen as trying to break the strike. Most of the children attending SSEE classes were not dressed in school uniform.
It should be noted, too, that many SSEE teachers are paid by parents to give these children `extra lessons.'
Yesterday's visit to some city schools revealed that the gates and the school buildings were open.
Stabroek News saw that the New Campbellville Secondary had the majority of the teachers present and working with examination children in spite of a memorandum the head teacher had issued to the school's security personnel to keep the gates closed.
This newspaper understands that the headmaster issued the memorandum to the guards after he had received a visit from GTU personnel urging him to close down because the strike was being intensified and he was going contrary to the wishes of the GTU general membership.
During the first week of the strike, teachers at the school had told this newspaper that the school's administration had wanted them not to take strike action.
Since the strike action began both the GTU and the ministry have blamed each other for coercing teachers and using intimidatory tactics, to go back to work or to stay away from work as the case may be.
The teachers took strike action from March 5 to back their demands for a further increase on their salaries for 2002. The discussions on salary increases broke down during conciliation in November and before discussions on arbitration could have proceeded. The ministry took the decision and paid increases ranging from 15% for the lower category of teachers to 5% for higher categories.