Linden Mayor Dominique Blair has criticised a Region 10 education directive requiring schools in and around Linden to send students and teachers to Sunday’s opening of the new Mackenzie–Wismar Bridge, saying attendance should be voluntary.
Asked yesterday by Kiskadee Watch whether she had sent the notice to schools, Region 10 Regional Education Officer Lashanna Anderson declined to confirm that she had issued it and referred the newspaper to the Chief Education Officer.
“Ma’am, I am very sorry but matters of administrative nature …you will want to speak to the chief education officer on those matters,” Anderson said. She again declined to comment when told that teachers and parents had raised concerns about the directive and that the directive came from her office.
“I do not wish to comment with you. Sorry, you can contact the chief education officer,” she said she maintained.
The November 11 memorandum, addressed to nursery, primary and secondary headteachers, says all schools in and around Linden, including those in Bamia and Coomacka, are required to participate in the November 15 ceremony. It directs each nursery school to send 10 pupils, each primary school 20 and each secondary school 25. Participating students are to wear their school uniforms.
Teachers are required to attend to supervise students, and the memo makes attendance mandatory for all headteachers and deputy headteachers. It also directs headteachers to inform parents and guardians of the arrangements and to make provision for the safe movement, supervision and departure of students.
“Quite frankly, the Regional Education Officer should have known better,” Blair told Kiskadee Watch in an invited comment. “Sunday is not a regular school day, and consideration must be given to the fact that some teachers observe Sunday as their day of religious worship.”
Blair said teachers and parents had contacted him about the memo and the expectations it placed on them. He said parents and guardians should decide whether their children participate and teachers should be free to decide whether to attend an event outside normal school hours.
“You can invite, encourage and seek cooperation, but you should not issue directives that make attendance compulsory under these circumstances,” he said.
Blair said the correspondence had caused unnecessary anxiety among teachers, parents, residents and community leaders. He said the Regional Education Officer should exercise greater judgement in keeping with the expectations of the Public Service Rules. He said he supported the opening and was speaking up for the right of parents and teachers to decide whether to take part.
The memo says the new four-lane bridge will replace the existing single-lane crossing and is expected to ease congestion and shorten travel times between Mackenzie and Wismar. The department said a shorter commute across the Demerara River could help students and teachers get to school on time and reduce disruptions to classes.
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