What is Barbados coming to when in the early years of the 21st century a small group of teachers can walk out of a school on the grounds that they do not like the head’s management style and his competence as an administrator?
What is even more scandalous is that government and trade unions are taking this rag bag of activists seriously and crippling the education of some of our brightest young people, the very future of Barbados. In the midst of all this our prime minister remains embarrassingly dumb, unable to even call a successful meeting of both sides.
Of course, the obvious action is to give the teachers a deadline to return to the classroom and start teaching the pupils, and set a date for serious discussions of their grievances. But it must be made clear in no uncertain terms that no matter what they think of the head’s management style, it is not a striking issue. We cannot replace one perceived sense of bullying with another, because one side is shouting louder than the other.
The crisis at the Alexandra School also exposes the inability of the minister of education to deliver on his duties, and the street-fighting bullying tactics of a small clique of trade unions. Those of us who are big supporters of and active trade unions can only look on in amazement as a major union, not involved in the silly show of strength at the school, has now thrown its considerable weight behind its sister union.
Now is the time, if ever there was a right time, for the government and parents to back the headmaster and show the unions the door. But it should be made clear to him that he is on probation and unless improvements be made – both in management and in exam results – then he will be out of a job.
However, the crisis is just a symptom, not a cause. The real cause is the declining state of Barbadian education and the poor quality of teachers, on the one hand, and the failure of government and the administrative class, on the other. If Barbadians want to test the quality of their secondary schools they only have to travel as far as St Lucia and visit St Joseph’s, the most successful affiliate of the Caribbean Examination Council, for an example of how a top school in a developing nation can perform. It may also explain why St Lucia is the only English-speaking Caribbean island to have two Nobel Laureates. Apart from the economy, the educational system is in urgent need of a complete overhaul.
We can start by raising the status of teachers by making it a graduate profession for all recruits and returning all those aged 45 and under to the class room for advanced training. They should also be offered salary increases and better career prospects, along with enhanced responsibilities for heads, including control of their profit and loss, hiring and firing, reporting to a board comprised of teachers, non-teaching staff, the local community, parents and secondary school pupils, with observer status for the ministry of education.
Along with this improved responsibility at a local level, the ministry should also have the right in an emergency to send in a flying squad of experienced teachers to take over in cases of failure. This improved status for teachers should also be accompanied by certain conditions, such as non-union membership, although the formation of a professional association focusing exclusively on standards should be encouraged.
The final test, however, should be a ten-year programme to raise the educational standards in Barbados to international levels, based on approved benchmarks, such as the international baccalaureate. It should also be accompanied by a widespread overhaul of the school structure, creating specialist schools for some disciplines and fast-tracking exceptional bright pupils.
As a small and relatively poor nation, despite claims to the contrary, the long-term future of Barbados lies in the quality of its human capital. We must not only return to the days when the quality of Barbadian education was unmatched in the Caribbean, but we must raise our game and produce school-leavers and graduates who can compete in a new digital world, which is borderless for its brightest and best. There is no real reason why Barbadians should not have a berth in Silicon Valley, alongside the best of the Singaporeans, Indians and Malaysians.
There is no reason why Barbadians should not be alongside the best high-tech engineers, alongside the Germans, Japanese and Chinese. There is no real reason why young people should not be entering secondary school already equipped with a foreign language and computer competence, which they acquired at nursery and primary school.
This bright future is partly in the hands of striking, gnarling, aggressive teachers picketing Alexandra School, rather than spending their time thinking of improving classroom standards. Instead of this, we have a so-called teaching union looking for a fight with the CXC authorities because he messed up and did not get his documentation in on time.
This, in a nation where 70 per cent of secondary school-leavers leave statutory education without any formal qualifications and, which the ever-expanding university is prepared to lower universally accepted standards by accepting practically semi-literate and under-qualified students as undergraduates. You just could not make it up. And, in the middle of all this, the prime minister has chosen to remain silent while what is best in Barbados declines almost to the level of the most primitive of nations.
Prime minister Stuart, in a most bizarre decision, announced from a church service that he planned to intervene in the Alexandra School crisis with the intention of bringing it to a ‘swift end’. If it was not so serious it would be funny. Maybe his interpretation of a swift end differs from that of all reasonable people. As prime minister he must give leadership by supporting his minister and head teacher. Rowdy trade unionism is not the way to run a nation’s educational system. The victims in all this are the children.
Industrial Relations:
The row at Alexandra School also exposes the wide gaps in industrial relations policy and legislation and it tries to rush through new legislation. There is quite clearly no proper conciliation mechanism to resolve these industrial conflicts, apart from strike action by workers and capitulation by managers. And, in a panic, the government is proposing the legalisation of industrial relations in a backward-looking and reactionary way.
One problem is that in a culture dominated by lawyers we have failed as a society to develop a legal consciousness, which explains the flaw at the heart of our legal and social policymaking. Yet, trade unions are a key part of the so-called Social Partnership, which some deluded people see as the governmental structure for small jurisdictions. Arbitration and conciliation should be written in to law as an industrial relations process all parties must go through before strike action or locking out.
Can courts bring about social change, or should be look to them as institutions of social change?
Analysis and Conclusion:
The challenge of education in the 21st century, no matter where one lives, is to nurture talent and close the gap between those who are naturally gifted, those who are well-taught and those whose ambitions and skills lie elsewhere. The key to unlocking this human capital is good teachers and first-rate teaching. Teachers are the guardians of our future. The economic crisis may be temporary, but the education of future generations will be with us forever.
But, as the Alexandra School crisis has shown, there is a level of obstinacy, arrogance and aggression coming from the BSTU that is offensive for an organisation which claims to be representing professionals, when it can even refuse to meet with the opposition. How we manage this is also part of the task of good government and policy-making. First, we must attract the brightest and best in to teaching by making it a profession with the same, if not a higher, status as lawyers and doctors.
This would be reflected not only in remuneration, opportunities for further study and societal recognition, but by raising the bar to entry. For example, teaching in a secondary school should be a graduate occupation. This is the one feature shared by all the leading nations which score high on international educational benchmarks, including Singapore, Finland and South Korea. All these nations recruit top graduates, develop their careers further, and battle to give them a lifelong career in education and part of their long-term strategic plans.
The action by the Alexandra School teachers is in many ways symptomatic of the failure and post-independence decline of Barbados. The one promise of independence was progress and prosperity, driven by equal educational opportunities. This promise has been broken at every level, from nursery to university, and scandalously so with Sir Hilary Beckles and his senior team building an empire in Cave Hill at the expense of ordinary Barbadian taxpayers, many of whom would never have the chance of entering a university. But the striking Alexandra School teachers take the biscuit. Their selfishness negates everything about teaching as a progressive discipline.
The silence of the wider society is also worrying. Where are the still active recently retired professionals who should be passing on their knowledge to this coming generation? Where are the aspiring and ambitious law undergraduates looking for experience who should be providing pro bono legal advice to the poor and underprivileged parents?
We are a society that has lost its moral compass, adrift in a sea of materialism and amorality. I have seen enough of this in Britain, from the so-called free sex and rock ‘n’ roll 1960s, to the greed and selfishness of the Thatcher years to the idiocy of the Blair years to the buffoonery of the Cameron years. Whereas the economic crisis will be resolve in a relatively short time, investments in our human capital, the most important of which is the coming generation, will last forever.
To allow our most precious gift is our talented young people and to waste it will be a grave sin. Ultimately, the crisis poses a number of questions about the maturity of Barbadian democracy and, in particular about the social responsibility, transformative justice, institutional limitations and the decaying Barbadian state. What those who really care about Barbados should worry about is that the so-called New Barbadians, the silent people in our midst, are quietly plotting to take control.
If they do, we will be marginalised like aboriginal peoples.
442 responses to “Notes From a Native Son: A Cautionary Tale Of An Education System In Decline, Alexandra Impasse The Symptom”
Caswell
As you may have noticed I have been probing to find out what could explain this apparent madness.
At one time I thought it might be some sort of Lodge relationship.
Your explanation on the relationships and patronage could very well do it.
You must have your facts as you have clearly used your name and called out both the PM and the Minister.
Assuming your explanation to be true the exercise this country has just gone through has been worthwhile if only for the exposure of the problems patronage can create.
Even the children would have learnt an important lesson in life from their teachers without once going to the class room.
Once a teacher, always a teacher!!
So, Yardbroom, maybe we are all winners, including the children.
Old time Bajan wisdom “The hardest thing is to know”!!
Now we are a bit wiser courtesy of some tenacious teachers and their representatives.
Instead of speculating, interested persons may read the actual inspection report here (compliments of Barbados Today):
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=mypagesuite&refresh=Pg7109AdT0c5&PBID=1cd7abf9-6124-4ac1-b728-1088bbfee942&skip=
read page 83: ‘Another area of concern is the Principal’s attempt to change the minutes of the Board’s meetings”
“the Principal lacked people’s skills and at times can have a distortion of information. The Board expressed that the Principal seemingly did not understand that he was a public officer and as a result his administrative responsibilities must reflect this.”
“The Board finds it very difficult to function and pointed out that the Ministry of Education and Human Resource development is not without blame for how the situation has been prolonged without meaningful solutions.”
Random Thoughts
Lets just agree to disagree!!
Hi John,
Only time will tell, because we have had trial by suggestion, innuendo, hearsay, and even Mr Broomes “love” for his grandaughter. The cracks will no doubt be papered over, but as I have said before “egos” have strangled this issue.
And even though we know that she is a “B” let us thank Cynthia Ford for speaking about the official report as published in yesterday’s Nation.
Not too sure if Owen is pleased as Jeff is seen os one of Owen’s included.
But I guess that Cynthia is pleased and no doubt Mia is also.
Cynthia Forde’s revelations are a load of self-serving crap. This monster was unleashed by the Arthur Administration where she served as a parliamentary secretary and then a minister of state in the Ministry of Education. If the BLP administration cared anything about the children at Alexandra School, they would have taken steps to rein in Broomes long ago. I am not impressed by these crocodile tears. She should recall that I complained about Broomes years ago when I saw him with my own two eyes in what you might call, “no fit state”.
It is unfortunate that the protection of Broomes continued under the present administration. Neither party, BLP nor DLP has anything to be proud about in this whole affair. I know lots more than I have said or written in this whole sordid affair. That is why I did not have to rely on anything that the BSTU said to give them what little support I could have mustered.
By the way, with regards to religious service, ask who ran a preacher off stage at morning assembly to make room for Peter Ram. These people even try to deceive the Almighty.
Uncle Jeff?
the problem with this situation is that the BSTU does not want to negotiate. they dont want to heal the situation. they want broomes out full stop punto final.
what if before any talks the MOE said “bromes will not be moved, but we can negotiate?” how u gonna go into negotiations with the rigidity of a corpse and expect a resolution?
Can anyone discribe his “management style” for me?
I dont like my boss management style, he wants me to work when i only want to get pay!
Yarbroom
Time will tell … I agree, more old Barbadian wisdom.
I have seen a 50% figure from the minister as staff still teaching.
How exactly does this fit into the puzzle?
while ya at it take a look at uwi carnival last year
http://youtu.be/6-env0iv0oU
Hi John,
To be honest I don’t know.
However, when people are under attack, I step back and ask are there “solid reasons” for such attacks.
People come on the Blogs and say:
She is unfaithful to her husband.
He beats his wife.
He was caught with his hands in the till when he worked at the Garage.
I have seen him with my own eyes blind drunk.
She has no concern for her children, they go hungry.
All they need to do such things is a computer.
I have never and will never go that route to win or advance my views in a debate.
It is interesting despite the tension at the school as reported in the document the school managed to perform reasonably well academically.
In the document at the part where Broomes made his files available is the letter sent to the MOE included?
@david what i find amazing is that broomes was a tyrant ONLY to half of the teaching staff at AX. are the 22 teachers who are not striking unionised?
The relationship between the Principal and the Board of Management is strained. The Principal wrote a letter reporting two members of the Board to the Ministry. He requested that they be removed from the Board. The Chairman was summoned to defend the allegations in the letter. Another incident cited was a letter sent by the Principal to the Board of Management stating that its members were not to be on the school’s premises without the Principal’s permission. Another area of concern is the Principal’s attempt to change the minutes of the Board’s meetings.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am wondering in the case of a limited liability company under what circumstances a manager would write to shareholders to ask that they remove directors from office?
The Principal made a request along those lines of the Ministry (shareholder/owner) and defended that request. The report does not give the result of the request and defence.
Again, trying to think of the parallell in a limited liability company of a manager restricting access to members of the board of directors. I can envisage the directors out of courtesy informing the manager of a visit but can’t imagine a manager laying down guidelines.
This seems strange to me.
I am wary of assumptions!!
What is of particular concern to the Board is that in this untenable situation at the school, the Principal reported that he has no stress. One recommendation from the Board is that the Public Service needs to be called upon to be involved in the rift.
++++++++++++++++++
Just taking part in this blog has my head hot.
Reading the report and seeing the divisions in the staff answers blows my mind.
What is clear is that the investigators found the position at the school untenable and recommended some form of intervention in the rift by the Public Service. ………(Commission?)
Tried to find a date on the report but could not.
David; I’ve had a quick look at the report and, imho, I think that there is no clear, consistent nexus between the design of the study; the results / analysis of the study and its recommendations. I think the study was, in effect, quite flawed.
The study from early on identified 2 groups of teachers whose opinions on various matters related to communication, etc., differed substantially from one another. It did not go on to try to identify why these two groups would have such diametrically opposite views on the same area in their school. It then essentially made recommendations consistent with the views of one group rather than a scientific mix of the overall responses. Where the study looked at objectively verifiable evidence, it found that Alexandra was doing “excellently” in the 5th form exams but did not appear to try to evaluate these results against a national or even regional standard. The study’s use of MOE staffers in the study team also seemed to be somewhat atypical for a study of this nature. Surely, non participant UWI staffers would have been better choices.
The interviews with the various groups each threw up some negative feature of the principal’s management style or personality that did not seem to have been supported by hard evidence and a thorough check of the particular incident. e.g. The principal was said to have requested the removal of two Board members. The team just seemed to have accepted that he was wrong and should not have done that without seemingly having asked why he did that? It didn’t state if in their view the request was justified or not. Similarly there did not appear to have been an attempt to probe any of the various negative statements about the principal that came out in the interview and make some sort of statement as to whether they felt the accusation was justified or not.
I wonder if the MOE could claim that it did not proceed with implementing the recommendations of the study because the study itself was not up to par.
I also wonder if a similar study was done for any of the other Secondary schools, if there might be very similar findings.
I suspect that a good lawyer or independent management specialist would be able to almost entirely discredit the report.
Just my 2cents worth.
… oops sorry,
it was the Chairman who was summoned to defend the allegations regarding the two board members …. not the Principal.
Checkit-Out | January 21, 2012 at 8:45 PM |
I agree.
On reading the report it did seem to be lacking and it is indeed quite possible other schools could produce a similar result if teachers and the Principals were asked similar questions.
Academically the school improved over the period examined.
The Principal’s relation with those above him exhibits an element of rebellion (perhaps too strong a word) I would not associate with a manager in a limited liability company.
His sang froid is also remarkable.
I would be stressed out of mind in such a situation.
IF it was not pancreatic cancer cancer what was it Ms. Random Thoughts?
“very well informed sources tell me that it was not pancreatic cancer //////
////////////////////////
IS it true that he badmouthed the Guyanese and still went down there and eat their food ???
IS it a case that he got hurt hurt (read -they wuk Obeah) in food -????
ISNT Obeah legal in Guyana???
Just read John’s post of 8.30 pm. where he gave the following extract from the report; “Another area of concern is the Principal’s attempt to change the minutes of the Board’s meetings.”
Something is wrong here. If the principal is charged with the responsibility of writing or supervising the production of the draft minutes of the Board meeting then he might be in a position to attempt to change the draft minutes to reflect something that was said, or decided, that he felt did not give an accurate report of the proceedings, but subject to the agreement of the Board at the next meeting. That is standard practice in Board meetings.
However, If the Principal somehow had access to the original files of the minutes of the Board meetings and attempted to change some part of an already confirmed minute or minutes of past meetings, that would I think be a very serious infraction and be punishable as such. If he attempted to change confirmed minutes and was discovered by the Board the report should say so. Indeed, the quote above suggests that at least one attempt (not even qualified by the word “alleged”) was made to change the minutes of the Board’s meetings. Was there an attempt to change the minutes of all Board meetings?
Did the Study, having been told of this quite serious concern, probe further into the details of this matter? The study does not seem to think it important to mention this but leaves the statement as a black mark against the principal.
A major concern was that communication was the main problem since it was believed that the Principal lacked people’s skills and at times can have a distortion of information. The Board expressed that the Principal seemingly did not understand that he was a public officer and as a result his administrative responsibilities must reflect this. The teachers too need to understand their responsibilities as public officers. The Board finds it very difficult to function and pointed out that the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development is not without blame for how the situation has been prolonged without meaningful solutions.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Again, I am trying to compare what happens in a Limited Liability Company.
This does not make sense.
The directors and managers would be responsible for implementing meaningful solutions in running the company on behalf of the owners/shareholders not the other way around.
Guess the two situations cannot be compared because the limited liability company is generating income while the school is receiving a subvention from the ministry and if there is no money in the subvention to implement a solution, none gets implemented.
… but the responsibility must still remain with the Principal and BOM and should be reflected by correspondence asking for a budget from the Ministry to implement the solution.
HEY Wren , dont you know that that is how women negotiate negotiate ???
DONT you realise that many women are rigid and frigid too too ??
DONT you know that is why their men leave them for the whores and other women women ??
DONT you realize that some women, let me say women hold a position and dont move move ??
HAVE you never been told by some men how their women lay down like a log and dont move dont matter what , especially if they vex vex ????
JUST ASKING
JUST ASKING
JUST ASKING
John; You said above; “… oops sorry, it was the Chairman who was summoned to defend the allegations regarding the two board members …. not the Principal.”
That has to be another error in the report.
Who summoned the Chairman to defend the allegations regarding the 2 board members? It couldn’t be the Principal – He’s a subordinate. The MOE could summon the chairman but if he did it suggests that the Minister gave the Principal’s allegations a lot of credence. It may be that the Chairman indeed summoned the Principal to defend his allegations to MOE (In fact that is somewhat more credible).
But in any case the report should have indicated if they found that the allegations were credible or not . Like most of the report, statements are left hanging with no visible support.
Looking at the schedule and format of the study, it does not appear that the team spent any reasonable time cross checking the various allegations made.
Found this article in the Advocate
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=letters&NewsID=22249
The BOM is to be considered a Body Corporate.
The Principal is the CEO
The Crown is the shareholder.
I get the feeling that a lot of people involved have skeletons in their closet and that is why there is so much “care taken” in getting rid of Broomes.
People frighten to pelt rocks because they live in glass houses.
Checkit-Out | January 21, 2012 at 9:39 PM |
“A major concern was that communication was the main problem since it was believed that the Principal lacked people’s skills and at times can have a distortion of information.”
Maybe this applies to the incident.
It is not clear.
But more importantly if you read Anthony Walrond’s article in the Advocate the Principal should be communicating with the BOM his employer, not the MOEHR.
I would suggest the report is couched in diplomatic language which can stand the glare of public scrutiny.
So if my understanding of Anthony Walrond’s article is correct it looks like the teachers in Group A and Group B and the Principal are all the employees of the board.
The Principal has problems with both his employer and the teachers in Group B ….. up the chain of command and down the chain of command.
If as alleged in the report an employee (the Principal) wrote his employer and sought to lay down the conditions under which representatives of the employer could come on the employer’s property I would suggest that is insubordination.
Something is really wrong here but I won’t speculate.
Yes John; The report is indeed couched in diplomatic language but basically fails to demonstrate the nexus between its results and some of the recommendations it makes. BSTU appears to have taken some of the generally unsubstantiated survey statements and pushed them as scientifically proven facts given their prominence in the report.
“HAVE you never been told by some men how their women lay down like a log and dont move dont matter what , especially if they vex vex ????”
When this happens it means that she is allowing someone to abuse her body, she is doing this out of duty, she is not enjoying it, the man ent cutting it and he doan know what he doing!
Now why don’t you shut to FCUK up?
John; I agree with your 10:45 pm post. Something is very wrong in the circumstances you allude to. But we haven’t been told the circumstances under which this happened just as we haven’t been told how an employee could have his employer summoned to a meeting to substantiate the employee’s allegations. Obviously it couldn’t happen in the Private sector. It seems to have happened in the Public Sector. The difference, and the huge gorilla in the room, is the Minister, whose creature is the BOM.
Mr. Walrond’s article has completely misled himself and those of you clutching for straws. The board of management does not employ the principal of any public secondary school in Barbados. Principals and teachers are interviewed by the boards of management who can only make recommendations to the Chief Education Officer (CEO). The CEO, in turn, forwards the recommendation to the Chief Personnel Officer for onward transmission to the Public Service Commission ((PSC).
The Public Service Commission is the employer of teachers in public schools in this country. Section 94 (1) of the Constitution states:
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, power to make appointments to public offices and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices is hereby vested in the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission.
Don’t take my word for it: check it for yourselves. Try not to be misled by people who quote credentials. The boards of management employs the office and ancillary staff.
The major problem with the Education Act is that it has created confusion by trying to operate two differing systems of administering schools at the same time. School boards should be advisory bodies without control of personnel. Oftentimes, the boards comprise a number of political yard fowls who have no knowledge or experience in managing anything. Even though not stated, the boards’ main function as a statutory board is to facilitate easy access to government funds. Generally that is why there is a proliferation of statutory boards: they have access to public money without much control or oversight.
Checkit-Out | January 21, 2012 at 10:47 PM |
There should be correspondence from the teachers in Group B and/or their representatives the BSTU to the employer of those teachers, the BOM which details the complaints of the teachers in Group B.
There should also be recommendations by the BOM to the MOEHR regarding what it should do with regard to the complaints in the correspondence.
Perhaps the investigation and the report are the result of those recommendations.
Clearly from the report it is not only the teachers in Group B that had problems but also the BOM.
There should be a paper trail to corroborate which might not have been available to the investigators … but again this is speculation.
IS that your interpretation ??
IS that the best you can do ??
WHO are you ?
WHAT are you ?
WHY dont you Shut to F *** UP and go F*** yuh self while your are it -you dog of the feminine kind–woman dog you -(SBH) –SlUT , BITCH , WHORE ???
Thanks Caswel.
Apologies all, I am trying to make sense of nonsense and failing miserably.
@ JUST FILTHY Axing
You are an extremely CRUDE and COMMON individual who has nothing to contribute to this blog except FILTH! Go post your FILTH elsewhere!
ARE you island gal 246 one of the women who are like a (IOB) immovable object in bed ?
HAVE we touched a raw nerve??
DONT you know that you should not blame anyone for your frigid body ???
@John and Check it out
Good discussion and probing analysis. As you’ll see the report will create more questions than answers, and many people other than Broome should be answerable to them. One man can make a place miserable, but it takes a group or groups to destroy condone, contribute to and compromise it. Too many hands are dirty here.
by the way, you guys are doing what i did in earlier blogs, trying to think logically and objectively. That doesn’t hold for some on this blog, and it definitely doesn’t hold for the BSTU or their supporters.
ISNT it clear that the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION has failed miserably ???
ANY reasons why the ministry of education should not be abolished ???
IS there any reasons why the concept of ministries should not be abolished???
Are we going to continue with the same archaic modes of operating when clearly modern systems need to be put in place
HOW long will it take these old jokers to see that change is needed???
@Caswell,
What legislation sets out the powers of the principal and the responsibilities of the school’s management team? I don’t see any reference in the Education Act.
DIDNT you islandgal246 interfere with me first ???
HAVE you ever seen me attacked you or any other person ???
ISNT this about the second or third time you have launched an unprovoked attack on me ???
AND you dare to accuse me of whatever ???
WHY dont you hush yuh old ass and leave me and my questions ???
DONT you know that your unprovoked and unwarranted attacks on me potray you as a lonely miserable old hag ???
YOU dont know that I was always told not to trouble people but if anybody interfere with me to burst their ass ???
Caswell help me here;The report stated that the principal attempted to change the MINUTES of the Board Meeting —does that sound fimilar to you ,Denis Clarke trying to change the minutes of meetings–rather i am told when Roslyn Smith writes the Minutes that Denis would change them –i am further told the Walter Maloney made a noise at a recent EXECUTIVE meeting about the minutes —Walter did made some statements at the previous meeting which were recorded by Sister Burke in the minutes -he went to the Union saw the Draft minutes and gave instruction to remove them –there were removed, when the Executive meeting then came off -he claimed that the MInutes were not correct and a whole set of cussing the Staff -then asking CEDRIC MURRELL to take over the meeting ,but Murrell trick him, when he came back the meeting was at the same place -Murrell place it on plause –he(Walter wanted the minutes to reflect that he was not there when a decision was taken but he fool himself )—–so you see why DENIS CLARKE and WALTER MALONEY —THE TWO NUPW CLOWNS WILL BACK MANAGEMENT AGAINST LABOUR —-BU THW WAY DENIS WHICH COMPAMY GAVE CEMENT TO A MANAGER WHEN HE WAS BUILDING HIS HOUSE , WAS IT THE MANUFACTURER OR THE RETAILOR ——I HAVE JUST ARRIVE KENNEDY AIRPORT TELL WALTER THAT .—DOES WALTER STILL TO BE DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY —WELL Dereck, Wants money for Drinking Partner Broome and Denis says he will buy two reelbarrows for Broome to collect D money , but you can simple ask them to deposit your at the Bank but them again you abandon your job -so no money for you —YOU should have stayed and help build the new WEDSITE, HOSPITAL,and BUYERS CLUB -You would have gotten a trip to Iseral ,although we have no money,or may be payment to do your Doctorate —is it that or MASTERS –I must ask the BCC/NUPW 2rd vice president, any how i have to work in two hours so i must rush off to home and go to work after this flight —-this internet is great it makes you feel at home following every thing ——old inion bags Sandra Massiah still working the that international labour organisation -say hi to her .
Brutus
The duties of the principal can be found at Regulations 15 to 18 of the Education Regulations, 1982 which were published as S. I. 1982 No. 43.
To be fair to Jeff, Regulation 2 (2) states:
Any member of the Board may, in pursuance of his duties under paragraph (1), visit a school during normal school hours on giving prior notification to the principal.
He therefore did nothing wrong when he required Board members to consult with him before entering the school.
@ anybody
I now get home has the PM said anything yet ?
Thanks Caswell. Maybe you could at your convenience forward a copy of the Regulations to David to be posted.
The report states that the principal insisted that board members needed to have his permission to be on the premises. This is different from being required to give prior notification, although they would be restricted to visiting during normal school hours.
However our interpretation of the document there is enough evidence of dysfunction within the AX management to merit intervention by the MOE.
If similar is at play at other schools then it supports the systemic nature of the problem which has been articulated on the blog several times.
@old onion bags
No statement forthcoming as yet.
WHA’ Prime Minister say what WHAT ??
@ Barbados Today.
The document reveals “there were serious tensions between the Chairman of the Board and the principal , the principal and the deputy principal , and the principal and some members of staff. This report discloses that at the heart of the problem in each instance is the PRINCIPAL . Who is this principal ? Broomes . BROOMES = PROBLEMS . And would you believe that some persons are so myopic that they cannot / will not accept that BROOMES HAS TO BE REMOVED ? The BSTU may deal in semantics and continue to say SEPARATED ; that is there prerogative . Whatever word is used it means that Broomes must be sent away from the Alexandra School. One must however question where these documents were hiding all these years. Broomes certainly had protection in the right places.