And in any strike action that those unions choose to undertake, the backbone is always the Teacher's Union. It is the most righteous, the most unified and carries pre-eminent moral authority - after all, who can argue with the person that's educating their child? And while that conventional wisdom still holds, the credibility and competence of the teaching profession was very seriously called into question last week when the Ministry of Education disclosed shocking results that showed a majority of teachers performing poorly on the PSE. The disclosure has outraged the teaching community - and galvanized opposition to the government. Today Teacher's Union president Anthony Fuentes said his teachers are angry and ready to strike.
Anthony Fuentes, BNTU President
"We stand in solidarity with the BCWU and solidarity with the NTUCB. So if the NTUCB calls for a strike, the BNTU will be a part of that."
And while the teachers have had the moral authority - Fuentes said that when it was revealed last week that a majority of 314 teachers had done poorly on the PSE, they lost major credibility.
Anthony Fuentes,
"In 2005 the BNTU had the support of parents when we were on strike and so indeed it is undermining by the Ministry so that we don't get the support from the parents this time."
And that's why he made a strong statement against the Education Department today.
Anthony Fuentes,
"We feel that it was irresponsible, disrespectful, and undermining and premature for the technocrats to disclose the information to the public without first consulting with the teachers, management and the BNTU. We feel that this examination also reflects the result of primary schools nationwide indicating that the exam is elitist and caters to those who have more resources and more trained teachers. Let us revisit the PSE itself and make it responsive to our Belizean young people. The technocrats need to critically examine the validity, reliability, and usability of the PSE exam. Let us design the exam for success and not for the failure on the part of both teachers and students. The technocrats at the Ministry of Education have not only done a disservice to the educators of Belize but have also embarrassed themselves by demonstrating to the entire Caribbean and the world that the education system in Belize is in crisis. The image of our teachers has been tarnished and will take years to be restored. The disclosure has definitely undermined the confidence, trust, commitment, and dedication the union had in the Ministry of Education. Thus the BNTU is calling on all its members to boycott invigilating and correcting of the PSE."
But won't that hurt the students rather than the establishment. The same students who are shamed annually by an exam 70% of them fail?
Anthony Fuentes,
"PSE is becoming, is obsolete, therefore all our children should have access to go to secondary school. They should not take an exam in order for them to go to secondary school. In fact many of our high schools now are now disregarding PSE scores and looking at the report of the child from standard five and six in order for them to go into secondary school."
Over 5,000 standard six students will sit the PSE in early May.
