CUT stepping into SBA dispute

The Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) will be intervening in the current impasse between the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and those teachers who are demanding to be paid to correct School Based Assessments (SBAs).

This was one of the resolutions presented by the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and passed by the CUT during the latter’s 39th biennial conference last month.

The issue has been a contentious one ever since CXC stopped hiring people to correct the SBAs and instead mandated teachers to do it. This caused teachers in Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados to demand payment for such a service, backed by the unions.

CXC’s stance is that the SBAs are part of the national schools’ curriculum and teachers should not be paid any additional funds for assessing the projects.

The entities have been at loggerheads ever since.

The BUT proposed that the CUT employ an agreed upon mechanism “to facilitate dialogue between the councils of the community and the private sector and labour” in order to approach CXC and mediate in the matter.

The second resolution, which was also passed, involved the CUT establishing a committee to promote occupational health and safety. (CA)