Georgetown: Amidst strike action by teachers countrywide hundreds of children returned home Monday morning as a result of instructions of the school’s administration.
Those schools that remained open had teachers sitting in doing no work as a form of protest, at the same time protest action in the city was ongoing at 10:00hrs outside the Ministry of Education on Brickdam, Georgetown.
The protestors said strike action until their demands are met.
GTU‘s President, Mark Lyte had told the media that the Union has been receiving overwhelming support from its members. Lyte had reported that all members from the Georgetown area are fully on board with the strike.
However, checks made at some schools in the city revealed that this is not the case.
Reports indicate that majority of the participating in the strike especially in Berbice, Linden and in Georgetown.
Last week, GTU‘s President reported that the Union has met with members across the country.
According to Lyte, the Union reached out to hundreds of its members from Georgetown, the East Coast Demerara, Berbice , Linden, Bartica and Essequibo.
“Our teachers are serious about striking…in Bartica, they have agreed to meet with us, even on a national holiday,” said Lyte, as he insisted that teachers are fully prepared to stay away from school come even without financial support,” Lyte said.
Lyte also noted that GTU is looking into claims that some teachers are being dissuaded from supporting the planned industrial action.
Lyte said based on reports reaching the Union, some teachers within Region One for instance have been receiving threats.
“Based on second-hand information, we are hearing that some of the untrained and semi qualified teachers from areas within Region One have been threatened to stay away from any strike action, and they have been warned that they must report for work,” Lyte stated.
It is being alleged, Lyte said, that the threats have been made by a senior official.
“We are trying to get more information on this,” said Lyte, even as he insisted that the union has officially informed the Ministry, and by extension the regions, of its plan to engage industrial action. This therefore means that the action to strike is a legitimate one, and therefore, teachers should not be fearful of participating.
He said that executive members of the Union has since met with more than 200 teachers at its Woolford Avenue, Georgetown headquarters, where it sought to sensitise teachers about the importance of engaging industrial action.
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