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Home / Top Featured Article / Teachers’ unions and lobby group say pandemic, volcano should force exam delay Teachers’ unions and lobby group say pandemic, volcano should force exam delay
Article by May 26, 2021
The two main teachers’ trade unions are banking on the expression of concern from UNICEF about this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) to push the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to reform the exams as they have been prescribing for more than a year.
The Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) on Tuesday noted that while Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw has recently been advocating for much-needed adjustments to the structure of this year’s exams, she has failed to attract the support of her regional counterparts.
Education officials have once again
raised the ire of the country’s two teachers unions, amid allegations that COVID-19 protocols established before the resumption of school are not being implemented across the board.
The concerns are expected to dominate the unions’ talks with senior civil servants on Wednesday as the country grapples with the second case of the deadly virus at a secondary school within the first seven days of the new term.
On Monday morning, students of the Ellerslie Secondary School were turned away from classes because of what was later identified as a positive case within the student population. Late last week, a student of the Princess Margaret Secondary School tested positive and another at St George Primary School was said to have been exposed to the virus.
BUT leader reports smooth Trinity term start
Article by April 28, 2021
Day one of the new school term ended Tuesday with no major complaints from teachers as the Trinity term opened with all-online teaching, President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Pedro Shepherd has confirmed.
Shepherd said while the majority of the BUT’s membership was looking forward to resuming face-to-face learning as the Ministry of Education had intended, the only complaints he received were about weak internet service in certain areas that interrupted some classes.
While this may be due to heavy demand on the electronic classrooms, the union leader suggested that internet service providers need to review the strength of what they are offering customers to ensure an efficient and reliable service.
Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School is mourning the loss of principal Jennifer Phillips.
The former senior teacher at St Paul’s Primary School, who was assigned to the Wildey, St Michael school in 2018, died yesterday after she fell ill while attending church and was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
In paying tribute to his principal, Pedro Shepherd, information technology coordinator at the school, said: “Mrs Phillips brought a newness to administration at the school and was a tower of strength for all staff, teaching and ancillary. She was also very involved in the Parent-Teacher Association and had a great relationship with everyone.
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