The Tribune

By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson released a statement yesterday dismissing Education Director Marcellus Taylor's "lame excuse" as to why 100 newly recruited teachers are still at home waiting to be employed and assigned to public schools.

Last week, Mr Taylor said once the security and vetting processes are completed, 100 new teachers will be assigned to schools.

In response, Mrs Wilson said the BUT supports the vetting process and union reps have urged the Ministry of Education in previous years to ensure that new hires are vetted.

She said: "I must state the fact that the majority of the new teachers who are at home waiting to be placed were in attendance at the orientation for new teachers August 21 and August, 2019. Approximately 95 percent of the new teachers have been recipients of the taxpayers' money through scholarships, grants, assistance of tuition fees, former teacher cadets and other forms of government funding.

"Approximately 95 percent of them are graduates of the University of the Bahamas having spent at least four years of enrolment at our premier tertiary institution. The majority of the new teachers reside in New Providence which is only seven miles (by) 21 miles."

She added: "Everyone knows that school opens in August and these qualified, young Bahamians graduated mostly from the University of the Bahamas from May 2019. So, the excuse is lame, and I contend it is incompetence and ineptness on the part of the Acting Director Marcellus Taylor who is now categorised based on the lack of productivity at the Department of Education."

Last week, Mr Taylor said the Department of Education does have a situation where new teachers are waiting to be posted.

He said: "We again have to follow rules in the public sector so some of the rules that we have relate around security, vetting and ensuring that the person we have in our schools are indeed people who fit to be among our students.

"As the minister emphasised, safety and security are major concerns of ours. Once those processes are completed then I think the other mechanisms that have to come into effect in the public service will then trigger."

He added: "We are not going to engage people who we are not sure about and so that has to happen. Once that's done then those teachers will be engaged. We want teachers in school more badly than anyone else can want them."