Labour Minister, Dr Dale Bisnauth will present to President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Cabinet today some proposals aimed at resolving the dispute between the Guyana Teachers' Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education
Meanwhile, the strike called by the union continued yesterday with some city schools completely shut down. Others held classes mainly for students preparing for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations.
Bisnauth told Stabroek News that after discussions with the Cabinet he would meet again with union and ministry representatives either tomorrow or Thursday.
The sides met in Bisnauth's office yesterday and discussed some of the recommendations of the three-member Advisory Committee in what he described as a "very cordial" atmosphere. The Advisory Committee had been convened by the Labour Minister in a bid to end the deadlock and it listened to both sides and compiled a report which was submitted to Bisnauth.
GTU Vice President, Phillip Roberts at a press briefing yesterday afternoon said that since the minister had not pronounced finally on the Advisory Committee's report the strike would remain in effect.
He also announced that the GTU would hold a peaceful protest around the city tomorrow and another in New Amsterdam on Thursday. Parents who wish to express solidarity with the teachers are asked not to take part in the protest march but to do so on their own.
Asked to comment on the meeting, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Hydar Ally told Stabroek News that the ministry had accepted the Advisory Committee's recommendation to bring the issue of salary increases to a closure by re-engaging the union in talks on the issue.
However, both the ministry and the union were prepared to await Bisnauth's proposals to Cabinet which were not divulged to the media by any of the parties including Bisnauth himself.
Asked whether the GTU was prepared to compromise on its demands, Roberts said that the union had already compromised by lowering its original request from 60% to 15% for teachers in the higher bracket. He said they were not prepared to compromise on the 15%.
In addition the union wants the salaries of teachers in the lower brackets to be increased to the level of the traditional public service minimum wage.
Asked whether the GTU had made provisions for teachers to work with students preparing for the CXC and GCE examinations later this month and next month, GTU Administrator/Field Officer Lancelot Baptiste said that all teachers including those who taught examination classes were asked to support the strike.
He said he understood the concerns of parents who had paid for their offspring to write the exams but parents needed to understand the concerns of teachers who must be paid proper wages.
Giving another reason as to why examination teachers should support the strike, Roberts said that the teachers should have completed the syllabi by now and students should be responsible enough to do their own revision.
A number of students at city secondary schools told Stabroek News last term during the strike that the teachers had not completed some syllabi with them.
However, there was limited teaching and supervision of students at most of the city's secondary schools yesterday. In a number of secondary schools some teachers were conducting mock exams in specific subject areas.
At some secondary schools the teachers were present and they told Stabroek News that they were awaiting their charges to revise some work with their students but their students had not shown up.
However, at the majority of senior secondary schools, Stabroek News noted students either working on their own in the schoolyard and in classrooms. Some were also doing work under supervision. A number were also seen playing cricket or just talking. At two leading city secondary schools groups of students told Stabroek News that they were doing group studies on their own and teachers were working with them more or less at their request. A number of these teachers were part-time. The majority of the junior secondary schools were tightly shut and some students were seen just hanging around.
Apart from the secondary schools, Stabroek News asked some primary school children why they had not gone to school. While only a few said their teachers told them they were not going to be at school the majority said that they had been told via the media that the teachers were going on strike so they had stayed at home.
The majority of the primary schools were also shut but with a few children playing in the schoolyards. By midday they had all been sent home.