Left – Director of Education Clare Browne (file photo) President of the Antigua & Barbuda Union of Teachers, Ashworth Azille (file photo)
The union which represents a wide cross- section of public school teachers is concerned about the “mass movement” of teachers and principals for the 2015/2016 academic year which started on Tuesday.
At least 15 school heads and a number of teachers have been transferred throughout the system in both primary and secondary schools, a well-placed source said.
OBSERVER media understands that there was a changing of the guard at Antigua Grammar School, Pares Secondary, Jennings Secondary, Ottos Comprehensive and Irene B Williams Secondary.
Also, the principals of Five Islands, Golden Grove, Mary E Pigott, Seaview Farm, Greenbay, Jennings, SR Olivia David, Urlings and Buckley’s primary schools have been transferred to other educational institutions.
When asked to comment on the unprecedented number of heads who have received new postings, President of the Antigua & Barbuda Union of Teachers (A&BUT) Ashworth Azille said while transfers are routine around this time of the year, the union is “concerned about the number of individuals” who have been relocated.
“We can’t say, without good reason, that the changes have been made with any malice or anything like that. But it does concern us that there are so many teachers and principals who have been realigned or placed in different schools for this coming year,” Azille said.
Azille said the decision by the Ministry of Education came without any “real discussion” of the rationale for what they are hoping to achieve.
“We acknowledge, yes, that transfers within the government service are not unusual. The system does have the right to place its human resources wherever they deem to be best suited. Equally, we are eager to see how these changes will affect the system; we hope that they won’t affect it negatively,” the union president said.
A source, who did not wish to be named, told this newspaper this is the first time so many managers of school plants have been “shuffled”.
Director of Education Clare Browne said the “realignments” were made in keeping with the needs of the various schools.
“We have adjusted and aligned principals to match the institutions that we intend for them to serve, in terms of whatever skill sets they have, and knowing the needs of certain institutions,” Browne said.
Browne did not confirm the number of school personnel who were affected by the transfers.
Meanwhile, the director of education said the new school year is off to a “satisfactory start”.
Browne said, yesterday, that things went well at most of the educational institutions he was able to visit on Tuesday.
He also said no major complaints or issues were reported to the ministry.