Sunilduth MUNGUR-Ralliement des Démocrates
11 March 2008
Port Louis — The forthcoming PRB report, which is due to be published in May, is causing much fear and doubt in the minds of teachers. It must also be pointed out that the last PRB report of 2003 did not bring so much fear.
One area of fear for teachers is the threat to seniority for promotion exercises. Of course to worsen matters, teachers' representatives who were supposed to defend them are partly responsible for this state of affairs. At one moment they were acting as employers rather than workers' representatives. One of them declared that, for promotion of DHTs, this matter could be considered. Another one stated that head teachers grow too old and they are assigned new responsibilities. When representatives become enemies of workers, then what will the employer do?
Another field, which is causing fear, is the allowances for NLNS. Will these allowances be suppressed? Will they be integrated in the salaries? Will they be increased? Up to now representatives of teachers have failed miserably to have the allowances increased. Teachers have been carried away by empty promises. But today they are realising that dream sellers sell only dreams and not realizations.
The performance appraisal system is also bringing doubt and fear. Teachers are asking the following questions. What mechanism will be used to appraise them? What will be the consequences of negative appraisal? Will promotion be linked to appraisal? Will increments be linked to appraisal?
Teachers are expressing much reserve about the change in appellation from teacher to educator. Will both GP and AL teachers be recruited on the same footing and called educators? Up to now these two categories have had their own identities. And about promotion - will both categories be promoted on same footing? Up to now they were promoted separately. Teachers are asking whether the fusion project will be applied.
Till now representatives of teachers have been evading the question - simply because they are partisans of fusion. Ralliement des Démocrates has been against fusion and has organized a survey on the issue. The majority of teachers rejected fusion. Some teachers' representatives are facing resistance in schools because they are not in a position to give an explanation on fusion.
Gradually the fear emanating from the forthcoming report is turning into anger - not against the next report but against their own representatives.
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