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See archive for articles on previous BSTU activities

     The BSTU at its Emergency General Meeting on 12th December, 2011 passed the following resolutions:
1.
Whereas the maintaining of dialogue is a fundamental obligation of parties involved in any professional relationship; and

Whereas the Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union has had a productive working relationship with the Caribbean Examinations Council that has been mutually beneficial; and Whereas teachers, by virtue of their being an integral part of the entire examination process, have been able to contribute since its inception to the development of CXC as an examination body; and

Whereas the continued success of CXC remains entirely dependent upon the current levels of goodwill and collaboration of teachers throughout the Caribbean,

Be it resolved that the Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union condemns the Registrar of CXC, Dr. Didacus Jules, for his failure to accede to the Union's reasonable request for a meeting to:
  1. clarify certain aspects of the relationship between CXC and the Christ Church Foundation School in the context of ungraded 2011 CSEC Geography scripts and
  2. discuss in general terms what must be done to ensure that no student is disadvantaged in the future as a result of human error or any deficiency in the system; therefore
Be it resolved that this Union initiates such actions as may be available to it to vindicate its position, and that it communicates without delay the sentiments in this resolution to the employers of the Registrar.

2.
Whereas it is a fundamental provision within the Code of Professional Conduct in the teaching profession that no teacher should censure or criticise the work of another teacher in the presence and hearing of students; and

Whereas the Principal of the Alexandra School, acting as an agent of the employer, used his official address at the school's Speech Day on 2nd December, 2011 to criticise a senior member of the teaching staff of that school and knowingly to do so before students; and

Whereas the Principal of the Alexandra School, acting as an agent of the employer, also uttered remarks which must reasonably be construed as being hostile and inflammatory and deliberately directed at the Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union; and

Whereas the Government, as employer, has committed itself to a policy of maintaining a harmonious industrial relations environment and has enjoined public officers under Protocol VI to conduct themselves in accordance with best practices expected of Government as the model employer, and as public officers under the Public Service Act to implement the policies and decisions of the Government; and

Whereas this Union has already drawn the attention of the Government, as employer, to the previous failures of the Principal of the Alexandra School to observe best practice in labour management relations; and

Whereasthis Union has made the Government, as employer, aware of the several and continuing breaches by the Principal of Alexandra School of the good administration expected in the Public Service of Barbados; and

Whereas there is precedent for the remedying in an appropriate manner of unacceptable labour management relations in a public secondary school,

Be it resolved that this Union calls upon the Government, as employer, to use the appropriate measures at its disposal to remedy the untenable labour management relations at the Alexandra School, and to do so without further delay in the interest of the teaching and learning environment at the Alexandra School, and to provide, in accordance with the Public Service Act, a work place that maintains the highest ethical standards, that is free from discrimination and which promotes the fair treatment of public officers.

3.
Be it resolved, given the increasing and changing involvement of teachers in the examination process of CXC with all its attendant expectations, that a committee be set up to advise the Executive of the Union by 31st March, 2012 on:
  1. the proposals it should submit to CXC for compensation for the various services rendered to CXC, including those associated with School Based Assessment/Internal Assessment; and
  2. on any other matter which would facilitate any aspect of the examination process; and
Be it resolved that members wishing to serve on such a committee should signify their willingness to the General Secretary once this resolution is given assent.

4.
Be it resolved that this Union withdraws labour as from the start of the second term of the academic year 2011 - 2012 at the Alexandra School if there is an insufficiency of response to satisfy the resolution passed at today's Emergency Meeting.

Be it further resolved that this Union gives appropriate consideration to an extension of the withdrawal of labour to vindicate its position.



The Background to the Current Impasse with CXC and the Alexandra School Administration

The CXC Situation:

  1. The Head of Department — and teacher of almost 30 years — through extenuating circumstances forgot to send a sample of 5 School-based assessments from the over 50 done by the students taking Geography at the CSEC level in May/June 2011 examinations.


  2. The teacher has admitted to and taken full responsibility for that error on her part and has suffered greatly as a result of that unfortunate circumstance … The Union’s role in this matter is to ensure that the students do not suffer and to reduce the possibility of a recurrence of such an event.


  3. To this extent, we wrote the Registrar four separate letters, sent emails and tried on more than one occasion to contact him by telephone to provide information on the matter that we felt he would not have had knowledge about and therefore persuade him meet with us to address the situation. (Letters dated 3rd October, 17th October, 30th October and 24th November, 2011). Our dissatisfaction with the Registrar’s response and behavior is based on the following:

    1. The Registrar's Failure to meet the Union. This is totally inexcusable and thus unacceptable — on more than one level:

      1. The Registrar was given ample opportunity over the last 2 months to satisfy this fundamental obligation in any professional relationship. As a registered and legitimate 65 year-old Trade Union in Barbados (a country that boasts a Social Partnership which serves as a global model), the Registrar of CXC cannot be refusing to meet with us.


      2. The Registrar is acting contrary to what has always existed. BSTU has had a productive working relationship with CXC since its inception, particularly with previous Registrars, something stated by them in correspondence as being greatly appreciated because of a recognition that teachers are integral to the entire process.


      Dr Jules seems to have forgotten the contribution of teachers to the manner in which CXC has developed, or to be ignoring the need for their continued collaboration to the existence and success of the CXC.

      Dr Jules has made no attempt in his limited responses to counter any of the Union's arguments or to dispute the points put before him. He has sought instead to claim that a meeting would establish a communications precedent … Truly, something that these unprecedented circumstances require.

    2. Our Formal request for review is an issue that affects all students in the Caribbean — The experience at the Foundation School with the Geography SBA random sample has exposed serious flaws in the implementation of CXC's administrative procedures, particularly in the method of communicating critical information to schools. These deficiencies can affect all schools in the Caribbean and therefore need to be remedied. Failure to meet the BSTU is in effect a denial by the Registrar of an opportunity to correct weaknesses in a system over which he presides.


    3. A recognition of a Fundamental issue at stake — Students should not be penalized by being "ungraded" in any examination where it can be demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that they did absolutely nothing wrong, but instead were the victims of human error and deficiencies in the implementation of the administrative system by the examining body.


    4. CXC's administrative procedures were not implemented uniformly — CXC has regulations which govern the examination, but these are buttressed by administrative directives, including measures to ensure that the appropriate reminders are sent to schools. The BSTU is satisfied that, in this particular case where the Foundation School students were discriminated against – albeit not intentionally – by a failure on the part of the CXC administration to implement those reminders uniformly and therefore to ensure that the Foundation School was included. (NOTE: The Geography Head Of Department at the Foundation School had not seen the Circular of 21st February, 2011, until after the exam results were out; furthermore, the Union is satisfied that certain documents that were supposed to reach the school did not in fact do so.)
    5. That there is no threat to the integrity of examination — CXC was in possession of all of the marks, including the SBA marks, in good time and although the random sample of the Geography SBA scripts was received outside the deadline, CXC could still have examined those scripts without affecting the integrity of the examination in any way. It needs to be recognised that in the CXC examinations not all schools provide random samples of SBAs in every subject every year. Given that fact, it is not consistently necessary to have the sample corrected to assign a grade to students.

      In an article dated 30th August, 2011, in the Barbados Today online newspaper, the CXC Public Information Officer gives the impression that the CXC bends over backwards to assist schools, that it has a fallback position to deal with problems of this sort … In fact, contrary to what Mr. Sam says about writing letters to schools, calling them and sending them reminders up until the time of marking and beyond, the Foundation School and its students have not benefitted from any of this. The only time that the school was aware that a problem existed was after the results came back. We are asking the Registrar to meet with us, provide us with documentation to the contrary and prove us wrong. We are asking the registrar to demonstrate to us that, like Mr. Sam said, "the CXC does not like to see children fail for any reason". We acknowledge that an unfortunate error occurred, but there is no need for the situation to be compounded. There are too many "loose ends" regarding the entire matter. The students cannot be made to suffer any longer for something outside of their control and over something in which they have fulfilled all that was required of them: to follow a course of study and fulfill the requirements for success by completing their SBA's and relevant exams.


    6. Involvement of the Ministry of Education — The Ministry of Education acts as the local registrar for CXC. The BSTU has invited the Permanent Secretary to use his good office to assist in a resolution. Up to the time of writing, the Union has not been informed as to whether the Ministry has done anything to correct the wrong suffered by the students at the Foundation School.


The Union will be forced to consider the avenues available to it to get this matter addressed if the Registrar does not agree to a meeting with us. To that extent we will be holding an emergency meeting with our wider membership on Monday, 12th December, at 1:30 pm at the Solidarity House, Barbados Workers' Union, Harmony Hall. After this we shall be scheduling a meeting for the parents of all the affected students in an attempt to involve them, as stakeholders, in the process.


The Alexandra School Impasse:

On 2nd December of this year, the Principal of the Alexandra School publicly and within the sight and hearing of his school population engaged in an inflammatory and perhaps defamatory attack on a senior member of his staff that was belittling, demeaning and debasing. The BSTU finds this situation untenable on the following grounds:

  1. Remarks of Principal at Speech Day are in violation of Code of Professional Conduct.
    There is a standard statement in all professional codes for teachers — including our own in the BSTU — which affirms that the work of colleagues should not be criticised in front of students. For convenience, I will quote directly from one such document (the Handbook of the Barbados Union of Teachers) where it states as a pledge "I shall never censure or criticize other teachers or their work in the hearing of students" . It is interesting to note that this handbook was formulated by the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) under the Presidency of the present Minster of Education, and the Principal was a member then - and subsequently became President of - that same Union.


  2. Remarks of Principal were deliberately provocative and thus in violation of Government policy in respect of maintaining a stable industrial relations environment.
    Government policy over the decades has been to try — through legislative and other measures — to ensure a harmonious industrial relations climate. This policy is given full expression in section 10.7 (a) of Protocol VI:

    "... the Government, as employer, pledges that it shall:
    (a) Inform its several agents individually and collectively, in writing, of their automatic obligation as such agents to honour the commitments expressed in the Protocol and, in particular, to instruct them to conduct themselves in labour management relations in accordance with the best practices expected of Government as the model employer".

    The Principal of the Alexandra School is an agent of the Government as employer and was acting as such in delivering his remarks at Speech Day. Furthermore, in a Circular dated 8th September, 2010, from the Ministry of Education to all Principals (arising out a request from the BSTU at the meetings between the Ministry, The Principal of the Alexandra School and the BSTU), the then acting Permanent Secretary wrote:

    "It is expected that all parties would cooperate fully with the execution of their respective activities in the noble effort to provide a highly respected teaching and learning environment for the people of Barbados."

    We had asked for this to be done because of the Principal's continued unacceptable behaviour to his staff. It would appear that the abovementioned correspondence from the Ministry of Education has changed nothing.


  3. Remarks of Principal are in violation of intentions of Public Service Act.
    The Second Schedule to the Public Service Act anticipates that public officers will conduct themselves in a way which reflects a Service that "maintains the highest ethical standards" and "provides a work place that is free from discrimination and promotes the fair treatment of officers". The Principal's actions run counter to both those obligations under the law.

    The teacher in question would have had no right of reply in that forum, nor any opportunity to point out the factual inaccuracy in the Principal's remarks and to provide the background to the Principal's own managerial infelicities.


  4. Further, the Principal is guilty of the Violation of recruitment procedures.
    The Principal has recently — on more than one occasion — violated the established procedures for the recruitment of staff. These procedures require that Heads of Departments (for the various subject areas in the school curriculum) be consulted as part of the recruitment process. These were confirmed at a meeting with the Ministry of Education at which the Principal was present and later in a subsequent Circular sent to him from the Permanent Secretary dated 1st April, 2010. He has nonetheless continued in this unacceptable behaviour, and this can be attested to by more than one Head of Department — including the Head of the Home Economics Department in a letter to him of 4th January, 2011. The BSTU has also brought these continued infractions to the attention of the Ministry of Education in letters dated 12th January, 2011 and at meetings at the Ministy of Education on the 31st January, 2011 and 12th September, 2011. Even though officials at the Ministry of Education are aware of all this, those agents of the employer superior to him are not bringing him to book.


  5. Institutional Appraisal :
    The Minister of Education, at the specific request of the BSTU, set up a committee to undertake an institutional appraisal of the Alexandra School. That exercise was purportedly completed earlier this year. The BSTU is satisfied that the process of gathering and making an analysis of the evidence was seriously flawed. Furthermore, the BSTU representative on the Committee has never been furnished with a copy of the final report. The Union has not had a copy submitted to it and the staff has had no access to the Report even though it was agreed with the BSTU at a meeting with the Committee that the report would be made available to them. The failure to follow established custom and practice in the compilation and distribution of such a document means that no credence whatsoever should therefore be placed upon any of its stated findings.


The Union has written the Chief Personnel Officer to seek an urgent meeting to resolve the untenable labour management relations at the Alexandra School. The current status quo cannot be allowed to continue. The BSTU has lost all faith and hope in the Ministry of Education's willingness or ability to deal with the exiting problems that seriously impact the proper management of the Alexandra School. The staff have had enough. Decisions will be also taken at our planned meeting of the general body of the BSTU as to the most effective means available to us to, once and for all, resolve the problem at the school. The BSTU is aware that the Principal has been in service since 1975 and that he will be 58 on Christmas Day, 2011. The Union is also aware how the Pensions Act and other legislation could be applied in the current circumstances.
The President's Address: Teachers' Professional Day, 2011
delivered by Sis. Mary Redman
Good morning and welcome to all of you here today. A special welcome to Mr. Roderick Nurse, our Sagicor representative, who today will launch, at last, our medical Insurance Plan through the BSTU Credit Union. We are extremely happy and very "fussy" about this. It has been a long time coming and we are very excited since it offers one of the best Medical health policies around,one million dollars in coverage with very affordable premiuims, but you will get the details later. welcome any members of our distinguished panel who might already be here … their official welcome will come later. We especially welcome our retired members and are, as always, very happy to have you with us. Your presence and contribution at our events make us especially proud and we honour and respect the insight and experience that you always bring to our proceedings.

We welcome our friends in the Press, we ask that you cover us fully and fairly and invite you to socialize with us when this part of the proceedings is over. Welcome to our actively employed members. You are the union's future and your presence here today signals a commitment to its continued legacy, to moving the organization forward. As our programme indicates, we are certainly taking that aspect of our business here today very seriously as we look at our Strategic Plan: to move the BSTU forward in its sixty-fifth year. You, the younger members of the BSTU, will be the ones to actively assist in the implementation of the Plan and to the effective continuation of this Union.

Sis. Mary Redman speaks


I know too that some of you younger members are not aware that you have the distinct honour to constitute the second oldest Union in this country. The BWU is only just a few years (8) older than we are. We are not a big Union like they are but we are one that Comrade Bobby Morris admiringly describes as "punching far above our weight" . We are a responsible, mature, respected Union and one that in our 65 years of existence, has been responsible for most of the rights and entitlements enjoyed by ALL teachers in this country and for influencing much of what is positive in educational practice and policy. I shall take this opportunity now to ask that all here encourage others and come along with those "others" to the week of activities that our very hard working Committee has planned to celebrate this signal achievement of 65 years of meaningful existence.

The theme of the celebrations is "Through the years and beyond" and a variety of activities are planned, including: There On 23rd October at 8:00 a.m. there will be a Church service at St. Cyprian's Church to start the week off. On Tuesday, 25th October, there will be an awards Ceremony here at Solidarity House 6:30 p.m. At this ceremony there will also be a cultural presentation where some of the featured performances will highlight the talent of members.

On Wednesday, 26th October at 7:30p.m., there will be a panel discussion, again at Solidarity House, The topic will be: "The Role of Teacher Trade Unions 2011 and Beyond". Distinguished panelists include: Robert Morris, Patrick Frost and Marguerite Cummins Williams. There will also be some "culture" that night as well.

Friday 28th is the big back-in-time bash… put on the Afro wigs, dashikis, minis, and all the retro clothes that are fashionable now and come … There will be a prize for the "backest in time person" …that will be at 9:00p.m. at Queen's College … just like back in the day we shall say .."C and B there!" ... I truly doubt that there will be any "Jonesing" but instead nuff "wuk up", so come out, support and contribute to the success of this event.

You will notice that this year we have deviated a bit from our usual TPD programme format. We do not have a featured guest speaker, instead we decided to have conversations with our membership on a different level…conversations intended to sensitise you, involve you, motivate you and empower you. First, I shall speak to you of our union activities and concerns and there will be a brief clarification session afterwards. The outline of the main areas of the Strategic Plan will follow. Then Mr. Nurse will "do his thing" in relation to the Medical insurance plan. Finally, in recognition of the fact that our members always need information and clarification on issues related to their professional status, as well as to share on these issues, we decided on a quite extensive interactive session with a panel of experts to facilitate this.

In relation to the most recent work of your Union, the last year has been one full of activity for the BSTU, during which time — and despite limited resources — the executive has continued to fight to defend and uphold the rights of our members, ensure professionalism in the workplace and attempt to influence and improve educational policy and practice as they operate locally. To do all this has not been easy: we are operating in increasingly difficult times and within the confines of seemingly innumerable constraints, such as:

  • constraints of time: our officers are ALL volunteers, who are available only on a part-time bassi since they have their full-time substantive jobs, families, responsibilities and other commitments;
  • lack of support from shop stewards: there's a lack of open and ready support of the Union's work and activities by some of its shop stewards. There are some schools from which the shop stewards have not attended even one executive meeting for the year, thus the hard work of the executive goes unknown and unnoticed;
  • lack of support from the wider membership: there seems to be a large degree of complacency which – under ideal circumstances – could be interpreted to signify that the rank-and-file members are, to some degree, profoundly satisfied with the Union's work but lacking any clear understanding or appreciation of the real effort needed to do the Union's work;
To continue "punching above our weight" in these times is not easy. To successfully forge ahead and move our organization forward, we need the full support of ALL of our membership, we need a personal commitment which is followed through by a positive shoring up of the union's activities. This support must be demonstrated in attendance at Meetings, attendance at training sessions organized by the union for you, volunteering to be shop stewards, RECRUITMENT of new persons in your schools, familiarizing yourself with the philosophies and practices of the Union and speaking out boldly and knowledgably in its representation … EQUALLY IMPORTANTLY, WE MUST PERFORM WITH THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PROFESSIONALISM IN THE WORKPLACE.

I need to say that during the last year, certain outstanding matters affecting this Union have not been addressed by those concerned at the Ministry of Education (MoE). There has been no follow-through; instead their hesitation to act has been evident. The MoE consistently demonstrates the attitude that they will only REACT to situations, they seem yet to appreciate the strategic value of being proactive and thus avoiding the upheaval, dislocation and ill-will which results from being reactionary. Moreover, when the MoE does REACT, it is hardly ever done in a timely fashion so as to prevent what is often preventable.

There are very important outstanding issues which requires collaboration between the BSTU and MoE, and the latter continues to defer setting any meeting dates to address such issues. It has been approximately a full calendar year since the Ministry last met with the Union, and there are still on-going issues to resolve concerning the Alexandra School.

The Alexandra School
During the first term of last academic year they cited, as an excuse the then on-going institutional appraisal as their reason for not meeting, stating that they wanted to wait on the results of the School Inspection before they met with us again. That institutional inspection/appraisal had absolutely nothing to do with our meetings … that is something that we had requested of them since January of 2010, in correspondence to them, as part of the resolution process. However, the objectives and purview of the appraisal/inspection process fell outside of some of the issues that we were attempting to actively address and need to continue to address. We never saw future meetings to deal with the on-going issues at the school as being contingent upon the outcome of that institutional inspection. We envisaged separate meetings to deal with outcomes of that Inspection process, in due course, because those outcomes we saw as separate and apart from the meetings to address our pre-existing issues that we had started to address.

What is perhaps not so ironic — and certainly not unexpected — is that as soon as the appraisal process ended at the school, the Principal reverted to his customary behavior, adopting a course of action which — at the start of Term 2 of the last academic year — necessitated an emergency meeting between the Chief Education Officer and the majority of the Heads of Department at the school. That meeting was held in January. Up until now we have had no feedback from the investigations that were to have been carried out immediately after that meeting.

To get back to the Institutional Inspection process: Up until now, the teachers at the Alexandra School have not had any copy of the so-called final report made available to them, even though the understanding was clear at a meeting called by the Chairman of the Inspection committee with the staff to present the draft summary. It is instructive that the meeting was a fiery one in which many staff members vocally expressed their disagreement with the findings of the committee as not faithfully representing the information that they would have provided in interviews and not representing the reality of the climate and culture of the school. Some of the staff members even communicated in writing these same concerns to the Chairman of the Committee. Given the existing circumstances, they have not been able to ascertain whether these concerns have been translated and included in final draft. But it does not stop there, the Union's representative on that Inspection Committee had grave concerns regarding the process and also wrote to the BSTU on the matter. The BSTU wrote to the MoE and re-iterated the concerns of our representative and up until now he too, as a member of the Committee, has not seen the so-called final draft. Neither he nor the BSTU has been afforded a copy of said document. Some of his concerns included, and I quote from his letter:
"It is important to note:

Firstly, that no one person assisted at every interview and therefore the tabulated responses should have been seen and discussed in detail with the Inspection Team before any comment or Executive summary was prepared. Prior to the post-inspection meeting with the Alexandra staff, I had seen an Executive Summary but no analysis and no report.

Secondly, that ALL recommendations (whether accepted or not) should be recorded in the final report.

Thirdly, documents offered by the Principal, the Deputy and Staff should:
  1. reflect correspondence rather than a selection of letters etc. and...
  2. should ALL BE ACCORDED THE SAME TREATMENT. At least one staff member offered to present documents at the interview but this was considered not necessary.
Fourthly, and to the extent that this exercise was deemed a 'forensic inspection', the terms of reference did not include an inspection of the school's accounts nor inspection of timetabling/curriculum arrangements.

When the above is taken into consideration, I have to conclude that the inspection exercise is unfinished and that the Union will find any Report made public at this point will need to be sent back ultimately to the Inspection Team for it to complete its work."
At a meeting with the Minister of Education, he indicated to us that the school's full inspection would include a financial audit. No-one on the initial Inspection Team had the qualifications to do such an audit and we have heard of no future plans to carry out such an exercise. The staff wants to know "Why not"?

The MoE must understand that the issues at the Alexandra school will not go away. As long as these issues are not addressed, the conditions at the school will only continue to deteriorate. The Union has a struggle on its hands to keep things on an even keel at the school. The staff is fed-up and wants an end to the existing situation there. We have been very accommodating of the MoE and have even allowed time for the new acting Permanent Secretary to get acquainted with the situation there. We have given her time and had a briefing with her after which she was to set a meeting date with the BSTU and the Alexandra staff. Over a month has passed and we are hoping that in this Education Month, we will be afforded word of such a meeting as soon as schools re-open. The MoE must take note that we have been extremely patient and accommodating but we are sending a message that our patience is running out … our goodwill is running out …the teachers at the Alexandra School are hardworking and committed professionals who need to have their concerns addressed.

Another area of concern to us is the matter of longstanding overdue appointments. There is the untenable situation whereby now — moreso than at anytime in the past — there are more persons acting in temporary positions in schools. We have some schools with persons who have been acting for ten and fourteen years who still wait in vain for their appointment. The implications for these persons' entitlements are obvious and this matter has to be addressed by those responsible. We also need our teachers acting in posts of special responsibility to be compensated for their hard work, so many of them are performing those duties and have not received their allowances. We are calling on the Boards of Management, Personnel Administration Division and the Public Service Commission to act and remedy this injustice. THE BSTU welcomes the revision of the Public Service Act, which we hope will redress such matters.

The MoE needs to meet us in relation to the grievance procedure against the Principal at Harrison College. This involves a matter that tramples the fundamental rights of one of our members there. Up until now, we cannot get to meet with them to address this issue. We are saying to the Ministry that they need to act in a manner that demonstrates more care and concern for those over whom they have a professional responsibility. The constant delay in addressing our members' issues reeks of disrespect of and disregard for the well-being of their workers and the agencies that represent them. Justice delayed is justice denied and their actions are not in keeping with the spirit of the Protocol which holds Government up as the model employer. MoE officials must appreciate that this enjoins them as it relates to their relationship with government workers and other stakeholders.

This attitude, sad to say, goes beyond the MoE to some other Government Departments with which this Union has to interact… and we are saying that to a great extent the larger Public Service must understand that they have a moral and industrial relations responsibility to deal expeditiously with workplace issues that affect the overall well-being of the work-force. They, as agents of the Government of Barbados as employer, are bound by that commitment of Government to be the model employer, as espoused in Protocols Five and Six. These successive Protocols signify a philosophy and approach to governance and economic and social development in this country that are envied by many. As a social compact, the Protocols exceed the significance and importance of legal contracts because they bind entities and people at the highest level possible: the moral level. They bind them at the level of good-will, mutual respect, altruism and patriotism. When then these ideas and ideals are not appreciated and practiced by the agents of those signatories, then it makes a mockery of the whole idea and exercise. On the other hand when the agents of Government as employer are not even aware of the contents of those Protocols then it begs the question: "Can they be blamed?" Government needs to ensure that those acting on its behalf are sensitized and familiarized with the contents, tenets and philosophies of the Protocol, so that it truly moves from being a paper document to a practiced policy….This need is no more evident than at the level of "Education" in this country. The time, effort and energy expended on Protocol 6 must translate into a process that moves industrial relations forward in this country and leads to a revitalized and effective industrial relations climate...an industrial relations climate based on mutual respect for and of all stakeholders, timely and effective action, proactivity and a commitment to collaboration towards progress for all.

On another note, I want to say that the BSTU has also been working to address the problem existing with the CXC Geography school-based assessments at the Foundation School. The Union has, through correspondence, requested a meeting with the Registrar to address the issue and to make recommendations for the future. We have had a history of communication and collaboration with the CXC. So far, however, the Registrar has not responded in the manner that we would have hoped and we are presently in the process of drafting a response to the organization to be sent off next week.

Finally, I will say briefly that the BSTU fully supports the condemnation of the ill-discipline being experienced in schools and the wider society as expressed by the Minister of Education. We have spoken at length, at the level of the Ministry of Education, the media and beyond about the problems. I will not repeat myself here except to say that we are willing to sit and meet with MoE officials to implement some mutually agreed remedies in this regard.

I thank you for your patience as I tried to inform and sensitise you about our on-going work.I hope that I did not ramble too much in the process ..and that I have been able in some way to motivate, especially the young ones to be an active part of that work we do for those who affect the world ..those who teach.
___________________________
© The Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union 2011
All Rights Reserved.