PARAMARIBO--Education Minister Robert Peneux became the source of ridicule on Tuesday, after he became very emotional during a live radio interview about the ongoing teacher’s strike. Wrapping up a report on how he was handling the situation, the Minister reached out to the teachers saying he understood their battle.
He said he too works day and night for a scant salary and limited funding, and then he actually burst out in tears.
Not many people seemed impressed. After a leading news website shared the story of the Minister bawling on live radio on its Facebook page, followers reacted mostly with “laugh out loud” emoticons. “Stop crying those crocodile tears weakling and fix the situation,” one person wrote.
The secondary teachers continued their strike for the sixth day in a row on Tuesday. On Monday they rejected a provisional agreement that their union BvL had reached with Government on Sunday. The deal would only have them see improvements in their salary scales in February next year, so they turned it down. BvL leader Wilgo Valies said schools would remain closed.
However, Minister Peneux challenged the unionist, saying that only Government had the authority to say when schools would be closed or open. It became a staring match between the Minister and the protesting teachers. The Minister lost.
Secondary schools throughout the country remained closed despite calls from the Minister to the teachers and students to report as per their roster. School principals reported that teachers did not report for work and students mostly stayed at home as well.
A small group of students held a short protest march in Paramaribo to urge parties to reach a solution.
Reports are that the BvL has meanwhile held meetings with a presidential committee, led by former President Jules Wijdenbosch, who reports directly to President Desi Bouterse.
Teachers are demanding structurally improved positioning as civil servants, which would entail better pay. On Sunday there was a slight glimmer of hope that schools would reopen, after news broke of a provisional agreement with Government; it promised that teachers’ salaries would be re-evaluated as per February 1, 2017, in line with whatever the inflation rate is at that moment. Teachers would also receive a tax deduction and be entitled to an additional half month extra salary each year.
However, the teachers turned that arrangement down because, they said, their situation is dire at the current moment. “We are not going back to work like this; we do not want to hear empty promises,” reacted one teacher after the general meeting. She said she could understand that parents and teachers want the strike to end and schools to resume, but “we have no choice. How am I supposed to live like this with what they pay me? If I continue accepting it, I will be living out on the streets soon,” she explained.
