FOR the past week, schools throughout the country have been disrupted. No matter how effective the Ministry of Education (MoE) was in implementing their contingency plan, I don’t like the fact that children countrywide were affected by the teachers’ strike.

The first week of school was disrupted. That’s one week closer to the end of the term, which is another week closer to examinations. This also means that one week of valuable instructional time was lost and one week to complete coursework has elapsed.

Now, this puts a strain on the teachers because when they do return- and they have to return undoubtedly- they will have to understand what was thought and how to continue from there or even revisit what was done.

I struck up a conversation with one of my teachers this past week and from her many years of experience, she told me, in fact, that it is very difficult to ‘unteach’ children. So whatever these trainee teachers would’ve taught during the strike period must be completely accurate and beneficial, lest the students fall short when applying the information as the need arises.

The more I immersed myself in the strike and protest action, the better I was able to understand the situation and how precarious the bargaining process is.

On one hand, the driving force of the masses would be empathy for the teachers and the pay increases they are clamouring for. No doubt, teachers are instrumental in developing a nation, given their role in creating the future workforce and the next set of leaders. And many, like me, believe that they are deserving of the pay increase, in light of this.

But on the other hand, there is the prevalence of the rule of law. Here, officials from the ministry and no less than the Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry have been rigidly adhering to the rules and procedures that are in place to mitigate and resolve the situation.

And for me personally, I was wholly in support of the teachers before and for the most part- I still am, but now I also understand the stance Minister Henry has taken and her reasons for doing so. That’s because, in the simplest of terms, she and her ministry are between the infamous rock and a hard place.

You see, as much as she maybe wants to cave in and fulfill all the demands of the teachers she cannot unilaterally make any decision. It is all good and well for her to say that the 40 per cent that the teachers are asking for will be given to them, but unless this is tangibly supported by the Finance Ministry, her statements will be empty ones.

More than that, the 1983 collective bargaining agreement stipulates the processes that must be followed by the two bodies in order for any decision to be made. And as much as it would be easier to loosen the ministry’s rigid stance, the rule of law must be upheld so that its credibility and validity are not questioned at all.

This process involves the processes of negotiations, conciliation and then arbitration. The key thing is if the parties move on from one phase there can be no return to that, the parties can only move forward. Yes, this means that bargaining between the union and the ministry becomes more difficult when the two have different solutions to their problems.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the teachers have stood in solidarity and held their ground. The ministry has also held its ground that it cannot afford to pay the teachers the sum they requested. Both parties were seemingly immovable.

Now, the process has gone to the arbitration where neither party has much say. Arbitration is the settlement of a dispute (whether of fact, law, or procedure) between parties to a contract by a neutral third party (the arbitrator) without resorting to court action.

In this case, the decision is left to the independent arbitrators who will make the binding decision for both parties. But this decision will only come after assessing the socio-economic conditions of the nation.

Fortunately, at this juncture, the strike is off and the teachers will be returning to school so that there is no further loss of precious instructional time. Furthermore teachers’ will not lose any pay for their participation in the strike action, there will be no victimisation and there will be no loss of seniority. Only time will tell now what the teachers will get and how long this process will take now.