Union says retired teachers being recruited to fight pandemic shortage

The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has claimed a circular from the education ministry’s director-general calling for the engagement of retired teachers confirmed that the school system was understaffed. 

“Our human resources in the field have so significantly been reduced, that it is being considered necessary to call on those who, after years of service, had left the sector by virtue of their age,” UPE executive head Graham Sansone said. 

Sansone said his union had warned that the pandemic would decimate the availability of teachers due to contagion or mandatory quarantine. “At this point, one can only hope that the pig-headed decision to ignore the union’s plea to protect our highly-trained workforce, with more stringent and drastic measures, will not result in a situation detrimental to our students nationwide.” 

Sansone said he doubted that retired teachers could deliver the high-tech education which the ministry has been requiring since the start of the pandemic. “Will these grades be expected to undergo full rapid instruction on how to manage platforms, applications and devices which have become the norm for our educators since March? Will there be a sufficiently strong response from these veterans of education to ensure that classrooms are adequately manned? Will they be able to be up and ready to adapt to the drastic changes in the curriculum which were made during the pandemic?” 

Sansone said it was preposterous that retired teachers who should be enjoying protection from the pandemic, could be expected to sit on classroom “front lines” with full classes of children. 

“There seems to be a naive attitude of Let’s hope for the best, and if we fail at least we will have tried!' going on here which defies logic. There seems to be no rhyme or reason in continuing to behave as if all is well, especially in the wake of a promise of an imminent third wave,” Sansone said.