PRIME?MINISTER?Freundel Stuart may be forced to intervene to bring the dispute raging at The Alexandra School to an end.
After nearly five hours of intense deliberations yesterday, Minister of Education Ronald Jones said he had been unable to broker a settlement of the dispute between the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) and Alexandra School principal Jeff Broomes.
He told reporters last night, after the four-and-a-half-hour meeting with nearly two dozen teachers led by BSTU?president Mary Redman, that it may now be up to either “a delegation of Cabinet ministers or the Prime Minister” to deal with the escalating dispute that has also affected teaching at several other secondary schools.
“Since I have been here, four years now, we have not had this kind of extreme industrial action. I sought to use my good office to bring about a resolution but this has not happened to date,” he said.
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PICTURED: Minister of Education Ronald Jones, at the head table yesterday next to newly appointed Chief Education Officer Laurie King on his right, met with BSTU?officials led by president Mary Redman (right, foreground), former president Patrick Frost (left foreground) and teachers at the ministry’s headquarters. Protesting Alexandra teachers plan to remain off the job tomorrow, but it is still unclear whether there will be escalated action on Tuesday.
