bahamasunionofteachers

In an address to public workers, Prime Minister Philip Davis delivered a pointed message–saying he doesn’t “believe in cussing and carrying on,” but in “partnership and finding solutions,” – a slight at union leaders of the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) and the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), Kimsley Ferguson and Belinda Wilson, who threatened another protest over the delayed salary increase.

Speaking during a national address on Tuesday night, Davis bypassed the union leaders whom he had promised a meeting, and said he was speaking directly to public workers as tension rises.

“I will not sit in rooms where respect is not mutual. Real progress happens when grown men and women sit down and reason with each other,” Davis said.

While reiterating his respect for unions, Davis said, “Fights get us nowhere. We need progress and respect. We achieve nothing by thrashing words in the press.” He continued, “Cussing and carrying on don’t work for ‘Brave.’ We are adults and  we must act like it.”

The big picture

This comes after Ferguson and Wilson met with Davis on Monday as promised, following a heated protest last Wednesday over the delayed salary increase to December instead of September.

During Monday’s meeting, the pair and Davis reviewed the salary for public servants, but were to meet on Tuesday to finalize the logistics of the increase. Wilson, addressing the media afterward, stated that a protest was imminent if the agreement was not finalized for workers’ next pay day, October 25.

Davis, moments later, issued a press statement, cancelling Tuesday’s meeting due to Wilson’s comments.

What’s at stake?

By addressing public workers instead of union leaders in a meeting as promised, Davis could be seen as undercutting unions’ influence. The move risks alienating Wilson and Ferguson, who may feel publicly sidelined.

Davis may want to be seen as the reasonable figure in a heated dispute, positioning his government as solutions-oriented and above the fray.

It remains to be seen if this tone and new position will calm tensions or deepen the divide between the government and the unions.

After threatening industrial action, teachers are returning to schools, satisfied with a new industrial agreement in hand.

President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers, Belinda Wilson previously told teachers to prepare for industrial action on their first day back from summer break,  voicing long-standing matters that they expected the government to address.

In fact, a majority of the members voted for industrial action on the first day that they returned to the classrooms. Now they are singing a different tune as the union prepares to sign a new agreement.

Wilson told members, “Don’t worry about the industrial agreement. We gat it covered.”

It appears members are pleased with the new industrial agreement. Its old agreement expired in 2018 and ever since, the union has been in talks with the government, seeking a new agreement. It was reported that talks were hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Dorian.

A few weeks ago, the union leader met with negotiators and she expressed that teachers were closer “than we’ve ever been to concluding this full industrial agreement.”

Teachers have been lobbying for lump sum payments, improved working conditions, increased allowances, reimbursement for classroom decor, and tuition fees, and a better insurance plan.

It was rumored that most of what the union requested was granted by the government.

Wilson, known for her tough attitude, is seeking reelection as union president next month.

President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers Belinda Wilson says she is in no way surprised by the results of the 2020 national exams that worsened when compared to 2019.

Why it matters

• Fewer students received A, B, and C grades and more students received D, E, F and G grades, and the results show that the overall number of candidates that sat the exam, were lower when compared to 2019.

The big picture

• BUT President Belinda Wilson and the Ministry have been in a squabble over when students should sit the BJC and BGCE examinations. She lobbied for the national exams to be cancelled, and for the MOE to award students predictive grades. However, MOE insisted that students sit the national exams for 2020 to help with employment and college entrance.

What Belinda Wilson says

Wilson predicts that the 2020/2021 exams will be worst due to the “educational gap” that was widened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the interruptions, challenged virtual platform, the late start for the school year, the incomplete 2021 syllables, and the ministry’s inability to reach the nearly 14,000 students who never attended the virtual learning, will produce worse results in 2021.

She asks, “What changes have been put in place to ensure that the 2020-2021 exams will not be a repeat of 2020? What policies will be adopted based on the data of the exam results? The results show that girls outperformed boys. So what new program will be executed to assist boys? Will the ministry continue with the status quo?”

The good news

• Of the 27 subjects tested, there was improved performance in 15 of them, including auto mechanics, biology, bookkeeping and accounts, chemistry, clothing construction, combined science, commerce, economics, electrical installation, food and nutrition, graphical communication, history, music, office procedures and Spanish.
• Performances in English language and literature remained unchanged, according to the ministry.
• More than 80 percent of the grades awarded continues to range from A-E.
• Performances improved in English language, mathematics, art, craft study, family and consumer science and literature, with the performance in general science remaining the same.

In what has become a disappointing first day of school, technical difficulties befell the start of the 2020 school year.

Students and teachers were unable to access the Ministry of Education’s online learning portal.

For about six hours users were greeted with “undergoing maintenance…we’re doing some work on the site and will be back shortly.”

The cause?

Officials of the Ministry of Education issued a statement late Tuesday evening saying the department of education experienced “some technical issues,” preventing access to the Learning Management System.

When will the situation be fixed?

The ministry said One on One and Amazon Web Services, the companies responsible for hosting the platform are working to fix the technical issues, and said it is hoped the challenges are addressed quickly.

What did the Teachers Union President say?

Belinda Wilson said teachers were not notified by the ministry of the technical challenges.

She advised teachers that if the issue persists on Wednesday, they should log on to the system, take a photo of the web page, sign-in at the school’s register and sign out at 12noon.

It is hoped that the online portal will be running by 9 am on Wednesday. If not, schools may choose to continue with the Zoom platform.

Over the weekend, the Ministry of Education issued a statement refuting claims posted on social media that its recent purchase of tablets for online learning is incompatible with the Zoom platform.

The Ministry of Education called attention to the post and labelled it “fake news” stating that it “has not purchased any devices that were not compatible with its platform.”

Their press statement goes on to say all of its devices, including the donated devices, are being used “in the management of school operations in the collection of data in the field and on our Office 365 Platform for the creation and sharing of documents.”

What are the claims by the social media user and did the Ministry of Education address the concerns?

The post tweeted by Latrae Rahming, a former press secretary in the Christie administration, claimed that the Ministry of Education  spent millions of dollars on computer tablets for virtual learning, finding out later that “the tablets were incompatible with the Zoom platform.”

Rahming claimed that because of this, the tablets “could not be used.”

When the Ministry fought back, it did not mention the tablets’ compatibility for the Zoom platform which shot to fame during the coronavirus lockdowns, becoming a leading platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars.

However, the Ministry of Education stated that the tablets were compatible for its Office 365 platform.

What are the claims by teachers?

A few teachers in response to the post, have agreed with Rahming, claiming that tablets are not compatible with Zoom.

One claiming to be an educator said, “It’s definitely not fake news.”

Another said, “…attempted to access all mentioned in this document with no success.”

President of Bahamas Union of Teachers Belinda Wilson in a spat with the Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd, told the Tribune that Lloyd “needs to make sure that schools throughout the Bahamas have reliable internet access, teachers have laptops and not tablets that are incompatible with Zoom platform.”

How many tablets were distributed?

Jeff Lloyd, in a report to the country last month, said his Ministry distributed 9,000 tablets to students in grades K–3 and seeks to assist more students in the lower primary level.

He said digital devices such as tablets, laptops, and projectors were distributed to
pre-school and lower primary schools on New Providence, Eleuthera, Exuma, Long Island, Cat Island, South Andros, Acklins, San Salvador, Mayaguana and East Grand Bahama.

Lloyd added that approximately 500 school administrators have received devices in the
form of tablets, due to the Ministry’s partnership with BTC. Additionally, all teachers have access to a device along with high-speed internet connectivity on their school’s campus.

Since then, private partners have donated tablets to the Ministry.