The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

STEPHEN Dillet and Uriah McPhee primary school teachers will report to work this morning and the schools will remain open provided the teachers are satisfied with the upgraded working conditions, Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson said yesterday.

Both schools had undergone repairs this weekend following the temporary closure of the schools for three and a half days, as a result of teacher protests.

Last Wednesday afternoon, all 38 teachers at Stephen Dillet took part in a sit-out in protest against working in a school that not only lacks windows, they said, but that also has a faulty air conditioning system.

Teachers at Uriah McPhee Primary School had also refused to work not only because of the school’s faulty air conditioning system, they said, but also because of the presence of mould in the building and overcrowded classrooms.

Schools closed early that day and remained closed on Thursday, Friday and yesterday. Director of Education Lionel Sands said last week the ministry hired contractors to repair air conditioning systems over the weekend.

Ms Wilson said yesterday “all seems to be well” and “as far as we know, (teachers) should report tomorrow.”

She added she was still awaiting a report from the union’s own independent person who was hired to assess the government’s repairs.

“I’m not applauding the ministry because I believe that it should not have even gotten to this point,” Ms Wilson said. “I also heard ministry officials saying that they were not aware of these problems... (but) constantly we’ve had these problems.

“Uriah McPhee teachers have sat in over the last term, many days because the air conditioning units were not working. I was taken aback to hear the education officials say they didn’t know about the air conditioning unit.”

Ms Wilson said the union had hired their own independent investigator as they wanted to be sure everything was in order.

“The ministry is saying everything is done. However, we the teachers who teach in the schools - the shop stewards who are in the schools who have to be there six and a half hours of the day - they have to be able to say that ‘yes, we’re able to work under these conditions’ based on the work that is said to have been completed.”