Teachers’ Union condemns abuse of teachers, wants more security

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has condemned the abuse of teachers by parents at city schools.

The GTU’s comments came shortly after a video went viral on Facebook Wednesday showing two parents brutalizing a teacher of the St Agnes Primary School.

“There is a crisis with security both in and out of school. Parents are now walking off the streets and into the classroom/office to physically assault and wound teachers,” President of the Union, Mark Lyte said in a statement posted on the GTU’s Facebook page Wednesday evening.

“Enough is enough,” he said referring to another incident in November at the Winfer Gardens Primary School where a Grade One teacher, Yolanda Jackson had to be taken to the hospital for medical treatment after she was attacked by a parent.

In that case, the teacher was charged along with the parent, which Lyte believes should not have happened.

“The Guyana Police Force has to do better at charging parents and placing them before a court of law. It is due to the reluctance and inability of the GPF to act swiftly and justly that this has continued. Our teachers are now fearful for their lives.

“The question is, who is next?” he questioned.

The Union said if any similar matter occurs, the teacher will be called away from their classrooms to protest the lack of security at the school and the GTU will demand that charges are laid against the parent.

The GTU also threatened to publicly call out the Ministry of Education to fix the security problem at schools.

As a result of the most recent attack, the GTU is calling on all teachers to dress in black and white for work on Monday as an indication that they are dissatisfied with security arrangements put in place for teachers.

According to Lyte, by 10:00hrs, all schools are required to post a picture of staff in their black and white outfits with caption “Parents! Stop the violence against teachers”.