Carlton E Francis staff staging a protest this week outside the primary school. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
By LEANDRA ROLLE
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
EDUCATION Minister Jeff Lloyd yesterday expressed frustration with teachers' continued protest at Carlton E Francis Primary School, suggesting union members have been too quick to take industrial action in contravention of their industrial agreement.
"Enough is enough. We are going to sit down with the conciliator and let's bring all matters to the table and let's seek the resolution within the resources and capabilities of the Ministry of Education," he said.
"We will satisfy every concern of the union, but this unannounced and without warning activities that disrupts the environment of the school premises is unhealthy. It's unfair to the ministry and to our children, the administration and the teachers."
Mr Lloyd's comments to reporters outside of Cabinet yesterday came after teachers at Carlton Francis Primary School criticised the Ministry of Education for allowing "their cries to fall on deaf ears."
For four consecutive weeks, teachers at the school have been protesting for the removal of the school's sitting principal. While some teachers claim that they have been refused entry to the premises, others suggested that they felt victimised by the ministry.
In response, Mr Lloyd said the Ministry of Education wants an immediate resolution to the matter and is desirous of an environment, which is "harmonious and beneficial" to all parties concerned.
He continued: "Let's go to the trade apparatus. Let' see how we can resolve this matter once and for all. As I said to Mrs (Belinda) Wilson, president of the union, and we want an industrial. We, at the Ministry of Education, (have) bent over backwards. We have sought to accommodate the unions in every circumstance that they have requested us. Every single one and yet we are met with these unfortunate situations."
Added to this dilemma, Mr Lloyd told reporters, is the trauma associated with Hurricane Dorian - the powerful Category Five storm which pummeled through Abaco and Grand Bahama last month.
"...Officially (60) people who have lost their lives and thousands who have lost their homes and who have been displaced and disoriented because of a Dorian and then to come to New Providence and find that schools can't start because teachers are sitting out and we don't have any warning. The industrial agreement lays out very clearly what should happen if there is a dispute or a concern not followed," he added.
Mr Lloyd said he hopes to bring the matter to a speedy and peaceful conclusion, but at the moment, "Carlton Francis is operating just fine. The school is in session and the students and the teachers as well as the administration is doing a very good job."
Comments
OMG 5 years, 1 month ago
Undoubtedly there are some but few really good Principals but there again there are Principals promoted through the sysyem because of who they know, which way they vote, member of masons or they have the gift of the gab but they have the people management skills of a retarded octopus. I know having worked with many who as soon as they become Principals are so lacking in leadership that they resort to pulling rank and usiing the ACR as a method of blackmail. There is a teacher on one family island who known for telling her class she wasn't going to f_ _ ing teach them and storming out of the classroom, was promoted from classroom teacher to senipr mistress when much better teachers who acted in a professional manner were overlooked. The system is a mess when a Principal who ran up a huge debt in one school is ,a deputy head in another school on charge of school finances. Mr Lloyd teachers get fed up with ignorant power hungry individuals, deal with it and demote those who are so inept.
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