Another Union whose recent disputes with the government made the evening news is the Belize National Teachers Union. You'll remember that days before last Sunday's now-infamous UDP convention, Education Minister Patrick Faber and senior staffers met with the BNTU's council of management to de-escalate talks of industrial action.
That's after the teachers complained about several amendments that the Ministry of Education had proposed to make to the Education rules. The teachers' concerns included the length of their Christmas vacation, their employment contracts as educators, and the hiring of emergency administrators and teachers.
Several key compromises were announced, but the BNTU told us that they needed to consult with their members for a final answer. This morning, we asked the president about those consultations, and here's what she told us:
Hon. Elena Smith - President, BNTU
"As with everything, we never get a hundred percent. So, we do have some teachers. We had meetings with 3 branches over the past few days, and those teachers are satisfied. But, we do have other teachers that we know from other branches who wanted - especially for the CPD hours, they wanted it to be reduced by half. And so, those persons are not satisfied with the reduction that we got."
Reporter
"It seems as though asking for continuous professional development is a reasonable expectation. Education is changing. Technology has influenced the way education works. Wouldn't you want, as an educator, to be at the top of what is available for your students?"
Hon. Elena Smith
"Let me first clarify any misconceptions. We have never said that our teachers must not take part in professional development. That has never been our position. Our position is that what the Ministry and managements offer to our teachers does not allow them to attain the 120 CPD hours, and that is the issue. You cannot tell me that I must have these things in order to renew my license if you don't provide it. So, how can you penalize me for something that is beyond my control? So, the concern is not doing it. The concern is the availability of those workshops for teachers to be able to gain the 120 hours."
Reporter
"Is that in your mind, a reasonable request? Let say, for example, the ministry and the managing authorities roll out robust career development programs. Is that 120 hours a reasonable expectation, or is it still high?"
Hon. Elena Smith
"Again, we had a meeting with another committee that is made up of several groups, including the ministry personnel, and it was agreed by those persons present that 120 might not be realistic. And as you are aware, a task force was put together, and that task force is going to be looking and reviewing all of those areas."
A task force has been set up to review all the concerns raised about how to improve the path provided for teachers to earn the necessary hours of continuous professional development.
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