Just four days before schools reopen following the Christmas holidays, the Ministry of Education and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) seem to be at loggerheads.
The BSTU is not communicating with the Nation Publishing Company, but it is understood that a meeting with union and ministry officials, including Chief Education Officer Laurie King and Acting Permanent Secretary Sarah Brathwaite at 5 p.m. yesterday to discuss teacher transfers was abruptly ended.
According to reports the meeting ended shortly after BSTU legal counsel Hal Gollop entered the room.
Here, attorney Gollop (right) and BSTU president Mary Redman (second right) in discussion with members outside the ministry yesterday evening. (Picture by Ricardo Leacock.)