Teachers not satisfied with Powell reclassification report

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU) has expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the recommendations made by the firm of Powell Consulting International Network with regard to the reclassification of teachers.

In a press conference last Tuesday at the Union’s headquarters, President Otto Sam said that there were little or no benefits for teachers in Powell Consulting’s 2002 report.{{more}}

Sam said that in September 2006, a meeting was held with the Prime Minister and it was agreed that the SVGTU would meet with the Project Officer, Chief Personnel Officer and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service so that there would be modifications before the recommendations were implemented, but so far nothing has materialized.

He pointed out that the Union wrote government giving their recommendations and queries in February 2007 but only received a response in May 2007, which just acknowledged their letter and did not respond to their issues.

He stressed, “We are only asking for dialogue so that we as a Union could make our input on behalf of teachers to influence the process. But we seem to have been denied by the authorities in the Public Service and the last thing we want is to have a reclassification project for teachers that does not benefit teachers.”

The Union President said while the government has been cooperative, the technocrats in the public service are “callous” in performing their duties pertaining to the SVGTU.

Sam said besides the stress of dealing with children, teachers in this country were among the lowest paid in the Eastern Caribbean and their salaries were also low compared to the rest of the public service and private sector.

Giving one example of an area of contention, Sam said Qualified Assistant Teachers would have gone up from $28,000 to $34,000 per annum in the reclassification project, but that would cause them to move into the 30% income tax bracket which would basically cancel out their increase.

The Union President said although reclassification was for the entire public service, particular attention was given to the teaching profession and the first draft delivered showed that a clerk typist with 324 points earned higher than an untrained teacher who only had 306 points at and was at

Grade 3.

He also pointed out that an office attendant at the Prime Minister’s office earned 314 points compared to the same untrained teacher with only 306 points, while the office attendant was at Grade 2.

The SVGTU President also emphasized that some teachers were given higher projected grading than other teachers who were less qualified and this showed serious inconsistencies.

He indicated that a graduate who completed a degree in three years would be at the Grade 8 scale, while the teacher with two years university teacher training plus responsibility was only at Grade 3.

He said that it was not fair for deputy principals, heads of departments and lecturers to be in the same grade scale since their responsibilities were varied and called on the Department of the Public Service to give remuneration packages, fringe benefits, pensions and allowances that best reflected the teachers’ responsibilities.

Sam said all secondary school principals should be at Grade 11, however rural principals were at a Grade 9 with the exception of Georgetown Secondary, Campden Park Secondary and Dr. JP Eustace Secondary.

He said such inconsistencies showed “bias and favoritism” of some schools over others and the SVGTU President called for fair packages in the reclassification project.

Sam said that the “standoff attitude” the technocrats in the Public Service Department displayed only deterred some of the best minds from entering the teaching fraternity and he expressed the belief that the reclassification project must benefit all teachers instead of “just a handful.”

Asked whether the SVGTU would participate in New Democratic Party’s protest march to shut down the town on June 8, Sam said no, that the Union separated itself from party politics.