OVER 80 per cent of the nursery and primary school teachers required to be at school, turned out on Wednesday, despite efforts by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to mobilise teachers to strike in protest of the government’s vaccination policies, which are in place to guard against the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

On Wednesday, the union staged a protest outside of the Minister of Education’s Brickdam office. In response to this action, the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, continued to call on teachers to not be “unconscionable” and negatively impact their learners.

“When we are dealing with children, we should always do what is in their best interest. The protest is not in the best interest of the Guyanese children,” Minister Manickchand said.

According to information shared with the Guyana Chronicle, Regions Three, Five, Six and Eight stood above the average, recording over 90 per cent turnout of teachers for both nursery and primary schools.

Specifically, across the country, 88 per cent of the nursery school teachers and 89 per cent of the primary school teachers, required to be present, turned out to schools across the country.

In terms of learners, 67 per cent of the nursery school children scheduled to be in school were there and 63 per cent of the primary school pupils scheduled to be in schools turned out.

Schools are operating on individualised schedules that do not require all students or teachers to be in school every day. Additionally, parents have the option of keeping their children at home if they so desire.

In emphasising the importance of resuming physical learning, the Ministry of Education had pointed to the fact that children have been home from school for over 17 months, resulting in well-chronicled loss of learning and school leaving (dropping out).

As a matter of fact, the Education Ministry said that since the pandemic started, and schools were forced to remain closed, more than 600 drop-outs were recorded at the primary level alone.

The country returned to physical learning following months of careful planning, and keen consultation with teachers all across the country, most of whom were cognisant of the realities facing children all across the country.

To this end, the ministry described the GTU’s call for strike as being “uncaring and unconscionable” and not reflective of the realities of the present state of the COVID-19 pandemic nor the needs of the nation’s children.

“We want all of our children engaged and in school and are working towards achieving this safely,” the ministry emphasised.

The statement went further to clarify that although physical learning had resumed, there was no mandatory requirement for children to be vaccinated to return to classrooms.

“Vaccination of teachers is not mandatory and there are clear guidelines issued for those who do not want to be inoculated, all of this to keep teachers, their families, and our children safe,” the ministry said.

In keeping with the globally established mission that vaccines are the only way out of the pandemic, the ministry reminded that the Government of Guyana has spared no effort to make vaccines available to every member of the public, in an effort to return the country to a state of normalcy.

“Multiple types and brands of vaccines are still available and easily accessible to all Guyanese,” the ministry reminded.

It went further to note that throughout the entire pandemic, all teachers continued to be paid their full salaries and benefits.

“Our teachers have been accorded the status of a most valuable resource… there were no salary cuts or layoffs as in so many other countries,” the ministry said.