Who can blame them?
Yesterday’s protest action by local teachers proved a major inconvenience for parents, but also some businesses. A lot of parents were told to come and collect their children only after they had dropped them off, forcing them to go back into the congested St. Peters area, in many cases having to leave their jobs.
In addition, the action called “meeting during working hours” to avoid the term strike and its possible implications was a blow to students in the crucial final part of the school year, especially those facing tests and exams. As one person put it, there are already enough problems with local youngsters and having them miss out on education only increases the chance that they will end up on the wrong path.
But it is understandable that the teachers are fed up. The matter of new salary scales has been dragging on for four years and while government provided a transitional allowance last year because it was unable to meet its commitments concerning the new scales, the teachers were still waiting for their salary adjustment retroactive to August 1, 2007 and their new salaries.
It was finally announced that the new scales would be introduced in January, but this was pushed up to the end of February, while the retroactive payment was scheduled for February 15. When that date again passed without result and the teachers were told they would not receive their long-awaited new salaries and retroactive payment until the first or second week of March, their patience ran out.
The Commissioner of Education has now reportedly assured the teachers’ representatives they will receive both the new scales and retroactive payment at the end of February, but considering all that has happened the teachers are sceptical, to say the least, and who can really blame them?
It remains regrettable, of course, that residents have to suffer the consequences of government not meeting its commitments and failing to inform those involved in a timely fashion. That’s why, despite being disappointed many times, the teachers should perhaps consider once again giving authorities the benefit of the doubt when it comes to keeping their latest promise, so that school can resume in the next few days, in the interest of the students, their parents and society as a whole.
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