May 7th, 2014 -- TO ASTROLOGERS the convergence of planetary signs foretells major changes that could be ominous. Likewise on St. Kitts we are witnessing the convergence of significant events that put our core values on trial.
The issues at the Basseterre High School are about Health and Safety; about the Education of our children and the barriers we may be putting before them which will limit the unfolding of their true potential; and it is also about whether we really accept the role of trade unions in upholding the rights and safety of workers
On the local scene we see the institutions, namely the Ministries of Education and Health, that could bring solutions caught between a political agenda and an impending election which is forcing them to hold Party politics aloft and renege on the values to which they would normally pay lip service - values which are enshrined in the very conventions to which our country is aligned globally.
On 28th April St. Kitts and Nevis joined with the other countries of the United Nations to commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work. We are told that this day has long been associated with the world’s trade union movements as it seeks to draw attention to workers’ occupational accidents and diseases with a view to eradicating such from the workplace.
On May 1, Labour Day, we acknowledge with other countries the social and economic achievements of workers and celebrate on Monday, the first Monday in May, the work of trade unions and their role in contributing to these achievements.
Coming in the middle of these special days of commemoration is the fiasco at the Basseterre High School which concerns the Health and Safety of teachers and students at the workplace in which the Teachers’ Union, quite rightly, has been very vocal.
Dissatisfaction with the way the way that the Ministry of Education was handling the situation brought outcries from the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) and the St. Kitts Teachers’ Union. The release of a joint statement from them made this very clear. They speak of "mismanagement and careless handling of the health and safety of the teachers and students of the Basseterre High School, by both Ministries of Education and Health".
They further state:
"We believe that by their actions they have put the lives of teachers and students at risk. We condemn the response of the Ministry of Education in their months of dismissal of the anecdotal evidence and the lack of acceptance that the illnesses experienced by both teachers and students are real. The Ministries of Health and of Education have failed us,"
The Caribbean Union of Teachers; the regional trade union representing some 72, 000 teachers, has given their support to the local Teachers’ Union and beseeched the Ministry “to act swiftly on the matter to prevent a crisis in the education system in St. Kitts”.
But on 28th April, a meeting called by the Minister of Health (now replacing the Minister of Education who has health issues) only served to sow further seeds of discord and brought into question her genuineness in trying to find a satisfying solution. She failed to invite the Teachers’ Union to a Stakeholder’s meeting called to find solutions and make plans to relocate the students.
This action was ludicrous on two counts – the Teachers’ Union had been part of all previous discussions and secondly the Principal of the School is the General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union and the President of the Teachers’ Union is also a staff member of the same school.
This convergence of roles of the Principal which hitherto caused no conflict of interest forced her to make a stand. As General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union, she excluded herself from the meeting stating that in excluding the Union someone “was undermining the principles on which unions are based”.
The Principal was quite justified in pointing this out, for the only way by which this whole situation can be resolved satisfactorily is by sticking to the principles and values to which we all claim to subscribe. The convergence and timing of events at the Basseterre High School present a stage on which players must act on what principles and values they really believe in for these are what presently are on trial.
So far the Ministries of Education and Health have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting.
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