belindawilson

Hundreds of public service workers marched on Parliament on Wednesday, demanding the delayed wage increases promised by the government.

Protesters chanted, “If you can’t get our money, ring the bell,” as some clashed with police officers and others sat in the street behind barricades.

Union leaders from the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) Kimsley Ferguson and the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), Belinda Wilson, called out the government for excluding certain worker groups and failing to properly consult them.

Wilson and Ferguson marched to the door of the House of Assembly but were initially denied entrance. Eventually, they were permitted inside and soon appeared walking hand in hand with Prime Minister Philip Davis.

Davis, also the Minister of Finance, addressing the crowd, reiterated the promise that payments would be made before Christmas, with back pay retroactive to September, and said the decision came “from my heart.”

“First of all, the decision to give y’all some money came from me, from my heart. I understood that y’all need that. It was nothing negotiated. I’m trying to help all of you. Y’all will be paid and the payment will be before Christmas. You will be paid before Christmas.”

Why does it matter

Public servants have long called for pay increases and have expressed being ignored and undervalued.

The promise of a pay increase for September initially, then pushed to December, adds to their frustration.

The government’s promise to meet retroactive wage increases can add pressure to the national budget, as the country prepares for a by-election and a general election.

What’s at stake

Any delay in payment or a partial payment will deepen frustrations. If some worker categories remain excluded, it could reignite protests.

If the government delivers and everyone is happy, it will boost morale before a general election.

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.

President of Bahamas Union of Teachers Belinda Wilson threatens industrial action if the Ministry of Education does not present a clear plan of its reopening procedures, as public schools begin the new school year on Monday.

In a voice note, Wilson said,”They (education officials) keep sending me the guidelines (health and safety) for the Ministry of Environmental Health. We’re asking how the Ministry of Environmental Health guidelines equate to what happens in schools.

“So it seems, the only language the education officials understand is industrial action.”

She said after six months of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, confusion and uncertainty about the health and safety protocols for teachers and students still loom.

Schools with recent COVID-19 cases on campus according to Wilson

Wilson said these schools were recently reported:

• R.M Bailey High School
• Anatol Rodgers School
• Carlton E. Francis Primary School
• Willard Patton Preschool
• Albury Sayles Primary School
• A.F Adderley Junior High
• C.H. Reeves Junior School

Belinda Wilson wants a seat at the table

Wilson wants the Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd, Permanent Secretary Lorraine Armbrister and Director Marcellus Taylor “to mature.”

She is calling on them to meet with the union to agree to a workable plan for the reopening of schools, adding that other issues plague the system since schools will reopen using a digital platform.

Digital challenges claimed by Wilson

• challenges with the tablets
• internet connection
• curriculum content on the platform
• teachers can not log on to the platform for training

Belinda’s rocky relationship with education officials may hamper other discussions

Wilson’s relationship with Director Marcellus Taylor is known to be rocky, but her relationship has recently hit a rough spot with the education minister when Lloyd said Wilson sent him WhatsApp messages containing the words “f— y’all.”

Lloyd said his ministry will not hold discussions with Wilson until she apologizes and stops behaving in a “disrespectful and insulting” manner.

Lloyd told reporters that his ministry has tried its best to work with Wilson but to no avail as her actions have threatened the quality of education for Bahamian students.

Featured Image: Tribune

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.

October 5^th is the targetted date for the reopening of schools in the Bahamas.

New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera will engage in online learning, while schools in Grand Bahama and other Family Islands will offer face-to-face learning.

Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd in a report to the nation announced that an increase in the infection rate of the COVID-19 in New Providence and Family Islands has forced the Department of Education to urgently plan and consider the reopening of schools, which was previously scheduled to reopen September 21st.

However, Bahamas Union of Teachers Belinda Wilson is lamenting that education officials did not confer the new date with the union and is asking education officials for the policy that will govern online and in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Will online learning cause problems?

Some teachers have taken to social media to vent their frustrations about the logistics of reopening schools, questioning if the government will provide the digital devices for the teaching instructions, how to ensure student attendance in online learning, and the care of their children as they teach online classes.

Director of Education Marcellus Taylor said employers, to the extent that they can, should consider some levels of flexibility around working arrangements or allowing children to come along with their parents to work, if possible.

He added that attendance officers will ensure the attendance of students, and resource packages will be issued to students without access to the internet and a computer.

Wilson, appearing on Beyond the Headlines, queried the number of hours given for students in a virtual setting, saying the officials assigned too many hours for students to sit and learn virtually.

She also questioned how teachers will assess students’ examinations and quizzes, and how administrators will assess teachers’ performance.

Dr. Ebby Jackson proprietor of Palmdale Vision Center said the online learning has a negative effect on the eyes. Jackson appearing on Beyond the Headlines said eyes were not made to be locked onto a computer screen for long periods of time, which she said will be problematic for teachers, parents, and the students, particularly if either party suffers from an underlying condition.

What are the risks of in-person schooling?

While online learning may present some economic and social impediments, face-to-face classes present clear public health risks to the physical reopening of schools. Though not surging in the Family Islands, COVID-19 cases are springing up.

And schools bring together hundreds of students, which may present a challenge with talking and camaraderie during the lunch period, which experts say cause the virus to spread.

However, most schools on the islands have small population sizes, and Taylor said these schools permit for social distancing, in contrast to schools in New Providence.

Officials announced that students will be spaced 3 feet apart in the classroom, but Wilson is calling for 6 feet spacing, as stipulated for social protocols.

Wilson questioned the class sizes under which teachers will be expected to engage students and implored that education officials install acrylic or plexiglass sheets around the desks of teachers, to reduce the spread.