BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - HEAD of the St. Kitts Teachers Union (SKTU) Bishop Ron Dublin Collins has called on teachers to strive for safer working environments and called for partnerships with various stakeholders to ensure the issues affecting students and teachers are addressed.
Speaking at a rally at Independence Square, that followed the annual Teachers Day March at the Independence Square Friday (Oct. 10), Collins described the saga surrounding the Basseterre High School has been a “shame”.
“We need to give our support to our schools…we need to work with all the stakeholders in the Ministry, ensuring that we address the realities of the problems we are facing. The Basseterre High School episode has been a shame, a shame on our education sector and I want all schools to associate with that because we must work to change the environment. We must work to improve our work conditions.”
He added that it was the SKTU’s responsibility to ensuring that there is a healthy working environment in all schools.
“We must ensure that those who have a responsibility for environment do what they ought to do and when there is failure on their part, then the Union must police it. The Union must ensure that we are working in a healthy environment.”
Collins also stated that the SKTU was aware of other schools facing challenges and called on the teachers to show more unison in alleviating the problems.
“We are aware that several other schools have had their challenges and we are a Union of all schools. I want to encourage us to stop the divisiveness among our schools…that is not spirit.
“Anything that prevents us from working together harms our students. We must work together as one teaching force, one education sector, despite the competitiveness often seen in our schools. We must always look at the bigger picture and know that our learners’ interest must always come first.”
Prior to the Rally, the streets of Basseterre were filled with purple shirts as the SKTU members marched in celebration of this year’s Teachers Week.
Hundreds of teachers and supporters were there in solidarity as they marched and danced through the streets of downtown Basseterre.
