By 
‘One Guyana’ is the resounding mantra at this time but it will continue to remain a theoretical concept in the minds of ordinary Guyanese unless what is preached is actually put into practice. Often, people with power and authority in key positions add to the divide because of being blatantly biased, having poor decision-making skills and the inability to act decisively when needed. Minuscule issues inflate into gigantic messes because of such people in state entities and their prejudiced interventions create greater disunity and division among Guyanese.
For instance, some minor workplace issues I faced were allowed to escalate because when assistance was sought from education officers none was given. While the Ministry of Education (MoE) has improved considerably in the areas of teachers’ welfare and providing students with a better-quality education by getting more resources to them sometimes, there is discontent among individual stakeholders because of the piss-poor management and leadership provided by education officers.
Discrimination at Ann’s Grove Secondary School
For many years I was subjected to discrimination, emotional abuse, denied my right to career mobility, experienced bullyism and other forms of mistreatment at my workplace which education officers refused to address. In fact, due to their unwillingness to listen to my concerns and treat me in a fair manner my situation became much worse. Their apathy or partiality was taken as condonation of the status quo and emboldened those who treated me unfairly to amplify their despicable behaviour.
In January 2012, I was sent to Ann’s Grove Secondary School as an Untrained Graduate Mistress (in possession of a recognised bachelor’s degree but not trained). Previously, I taught for almost four years at other schools while studying for my degree. From the moment I commenced teaching at that school I was subjected to unfair treatment. I was not given any classes in the area where I specialised although, apart from the head of department(HoD) the others in the department were less qualified than me including the wife of the HoD, their designation was Temporary Qualified Master/Mistress (only CSEC qualifications recognised). I was essentially treated like a floating teacher, not given the opportunity to grow in my field and have my knowledge and skills utilised effectively; and held back professionally although my employment was permanent. Furthermore, what one is assigned to teach by the school’s headmistress (HM) matters when seeking a promotion. For example, teachers become eligible for a first promotion as an HoD after teaching for three years in their area of specialisation (related degree and/or training) or only after eight years if teaching subjects that they haven’t specialised in.
Apart from being stagnated I was subjected to emotional abuse and even threatened with bodily harm which affected my mental wellbeing, self-esteem and job satisfaction. Even the GTU was utilised, once a GTU representative, Deoraj Nauth was called to the school to intimidate me.
My Letter of Complaint about the visit by this GTU representative. I received no response from anyone.
On many occasions, I was belittled and humiliated in the presence of my students and colleagues. The school has an open plan layout and professionalism whereby private matters are discussed away from students was sorely lacking.
Biased officials at the Department of Education Region 4
I sought a transfer from education officer, Tiffany Harvey in 2016. According to my appointment letter a transfer could be requested after serving for four years plus I lived a far distance from the school. Ms Harvey wanted to know specifically why I wanted the transfer and asked me to outline my reasons. After doing so, she outright refused to address my concerns, did not verify what I alleged with the HM, Ms Cindy Crandon but chose to treat me like the villain and accused me of being rude. Plus, in order to turn the focus on me she body shamed me by accusing me of wearing a ‘tight’ skirt ( the hemline of my skirt was below my knees and of a regular fit). I was forced to turn around and show her and others, including her secretary who was a former student of mine the outline of my backside; I felt so humiliated. Apart from no dress code being placed in or on the building there apparently, when one goes to visit these ‘godly’ officials one is supposed to cover the offensive body with a bag or burka so as to hide ‘unpleasant’ bulges, bumps and curves which may upset the delicate sensibilities of these people! A linear profile is required. I wrote about my ordeal publicly after I realised that the officials who were actually being paid to deal with matters such as mine were not going to offer me any assistance.
The media doesn’t see discrimination against Indo-Guyanese as being news worthy
In Guyana though, the media has its own narrative to spin, discrimination against Indo-Guyanese is not seen as important. I had to reach out to the publisher of one newspaper to get my letters printed although, letters on many mundane issues are frequently published in the Letters Section.
(https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/07/06/i-am-a-distraught-teacher-who-has-been-mistreated-but-who-can-i-turn-to-for-help/ and https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2018/11/30/the-ministry-of-education-has-continued-to-ignore-my-pleas/)
They said the only place I can go is out of the region
Needless to say, my transfer request was not granted but instead my work environment became more toxic. Ms Harvey informed Ms Crandon of my visit and when I returned to the school I was confronted and harassed by her in the school yard. Although, my treatment at work deteriorated I persevered instead of resigning because I viewed my situation as a battle of wills and an endurance test. To resign was to admit defeat from people who didn’t even hire me. The next year I sought a transfer again from a new official, Ms Atkinson since Ms Harvey had moved to the position of Regional Education Officer. I was then told by Ms Atkinson that her superior said that the only place I can be transferred to is out of the region although I lived on the lower East Coast. Since the DoE Region 4 offered no assistance to me but made my work life more stressful I wrote publicly about my ordeal with the hope that this would prompt an intervention but alas all was done in vain.
My request for a transfer (part of the letter). The Officer had me print several copies for different officials and after wasting my time and ink then informed me that I couldn’t be transferred (I saw the comment about ‘out of the region’ as an insult).
The battle to become a Trained Teacher
I continued teaching at the school and decided to seek teachers’ training in 2018, I hadn’t sought this earlier due to being demotivated because of the work environment. I decided to undertake a Postgraduate Diploma in Education at the University of Guyana; instead of going to CPCE teachers with degrees can take this route.
When I approached the HM for a simple letter stating that I worked at the school which was needed for my application, she outright refused to give me this despite the fact that it was her duty and my appointment letter from the Teaching Service Commission stated that I ‘must’ seek teachers’ training. After, I went to the CEO’s office and was told by a technical officer to get the letter from the personnel department. Although I informed the officer of the HM’s behaviour, she did nothing and therefore empowered Ms Crandon to continue with her unprofessional conduct. If the officer had simply called and enquired about her conduct many problems that followed might have been avoided.
I was admitted to the DipEd programme in an area that was relevant to my degree but faced another hurdle, Ms Crandon refused to give me a class in my speciality although I was more qualified than everyone in that department except for the HoD. Thankfully, my lecturer, an Afro-Guyanese woman whom I met for the first time when I started the programme was understanding and advised me to ‘borrow’ a class(es) when I was scheduled for practicum. However, on the day of my practicum, the HM tried to sabotage my lesson which was being graded by the lecturer. Ms Crandon entered my class while I was teaching and proceeded to engage in a long conversation with my lecturer. The lecturer was so upset after that she refused to return to the school and I was forced to redo my lesson at another school. The lecturer told me that the HM was criticising me. The following week the lecturer even called me out of a UG class and spent over an hour trying to convince me to resign from my job if I couldn’t get a transfer from the school. She was very upset about the HM’s attitude towards me and said she couldn’t work in such an environment.
The HM, Cindy Crandon’s biased and unprofessional behaviour was condoned by the MoE
I completed my programme despite the obstacles thrown at me and was entitled to an upgrade in designation from the TSC. My upgrade application required a letter from the HM stating that I did not attend classes during working hours. When I approached the HM for this, she refused to give me the required letter. And the personnel manager along with other education officials insisted that I must produce this letter although they were informed of the HM’s refusal and knew that classes for post graduate programmes were held on weekends (public school teachers are not required to work on Saturdays and Sundays). The HM even refused to sign my form for Whitley Council Leave. She said that she was not my HM. I had to approach Mr Loren Park with this issue and while he did submit my form, he failed to address the HM’s conduct thereby condoning her actions and empowering her to behave unprofessionally.
HGP Nightly News defamatory story about me at Ann’s Grove Secondary School
Then about a week later HGP Nightly News broadcasted a news item about me with some ‘fake protesters’ and an ‘anonymous source’ from the school (https://hgptv.com/parents-upset-with-behaviour-of-teacher-at-anns-grove-school/ ).
I was accused of not holding end of term examinations for HFLE and for Grade 9 Spanish. HGP Nightly News never verified their story or reached out to me. I was defamed in the community and chased out of the school over this fake story. I was never assigned HFLE to teach nor was I assigned to teach Grade 9 for that academic year and this could have been easily verified. I even reached out to the station and they had me in their studio telling my side of the story only to never broadcast it but come up with the lame excuse that there were technical difficulties with the sound so they couldn’t broadcast my side. Now, after airing their fake news, slandering me in front of my students and having this video up for many years HGP Nightly News has chosen the cowardly route by making the video private. I am calling on the management of HGP Nightly News to make this video public once again. Don’t be a coward, you broadcasted your story to thousands so stand by it.
Screenshot of what HGP Nightly News broadcasted; they have now made this video private.
The DoE Region 4 failed to address the fake news story and hence treated me unfairly
The day after the broadcast I was told by the HM to report to the DoE where a clerk instructed me to just sit on the couch in the waiting area. For two days I sat on the couch waiting and the MoE nor the officers at the DoE Region 4 didn’t investigate or address what occurred. Absolutely nothing was said about the matter apart from education officer, Loren Park telling me that I must never return to the school as if I were the villain. Furthermore, over the years Mr Park displayed outright bias and never assisted me. When he was called upon to address problems at the school, he often started meetings by asking about irrelevant things such as my religious views, personal life etc, and proceed on that route which would side track the real issues at hand.
After the incident, I wrote to Loren Park; the GTU and the then CEO, Marcel Hutson about the news item, the HM’s refusal to give me the letter for my upgrade and other matters but received no response; letters were either hand delivered or sent by registered mail.
A very cold reception at Annandale Secondary School
During my stint on the couch, I was handed a letter for the HM of Annandale Secondary School and told to report for duty there. Due to the informal way in which I was sent to this new school and the fact that the incident(s) which led to me being sent there was never addressed by the education officers further problems were created for me in my new environment. I was seen as a ‘problem teacher’ guilty of everything I was accused of and being disciplined by the MoE (the DHM said that they were told this). So, wanting to partake in the discipling as well, my reception at the new school was very cold. Not only was I treated like a temporary staff member with less privileges than other teachers and even chased out once but I was told that there was no place at the school for me and that they were only babysitting me for the MoE among other unpleasantries.
The Education Officers allowed Cindy Crandon to engage in grossly unprofessional behaviour
During this time, I was still being denied the letter to start the process of upgrading my designation and the education officers had no interest in helping me, just a simple phone call from Ms Harvey or Mr Park to the HM of Ann’s Grove Secondary School who was their subordinate instructing her to give me what I needed could have quickly resolved this matter. Instead, after eight months of being given the royal run around I decided to approach the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) in July 2020.
Copies of my letter to the ERC were hand delivered or sent by registered mail to the GTU, HM (Ann’s Grove Secondary), CEO, REdO and HR Manager. I received no response/acknowledgement from anyone.
The Ethnic Relations Commission needs to work harder on being impartial
Finally, in September 2020, the HM sent the required letter to the ERC and the investigator Mr Smith gave it to me with what I assumed was the expectation that I should be jubilant. I pointed out to him that I requested the letter since November 2019 and it was a simple document that the HM was required to give me since it was her duty and not a favour.
A few days later he called me and requested that I visit the ERC as soon as possible; I was not told why. When I got there Mr Smith presented a thick file which he said was my personal file that the HM had sent. I was not allowed to view the documents although he proceeded to read them, asked me to respond and wrote what I said. For instance, he asked me why I didn’t remain after the school dismissed for a meeting in 2013 (another person was the HM then) and why I protested when my table was used as a bag bay and chair used by another person a few years prior.
This entire scenario was utterly absurd; I was being ambushed, manipulated and given no time to assess that was happening. However, I was saved from this charade by a fumigation team which demanded that everyone leave the building. Although, Mr Smith requested that I return another day to answer the ‘charges’ against me I refused to subject myself to that nonsense and informed him that I was going to write to the commissioners of the ERC myself. I did this and copies of my letter were sent to the HM, GTU, ACEO and then REdO, Ms Harvey. The HM, Ms Crandon instead of responding to my complaint against her at the ERC chose to send my personal file which was stored in her office at the school. I questioned whether she had the authority to do so especially considering that I was never given access to my file nor copies of the documents contained in the file which she sent to the ERC although she was given copies of all correspondences regarding her by me. Ms Crandon could have stuffed my file with fictitious complaints. And although I requested to view my file from the relevant education officers, I received no response. Furthermore, after I wrote to the commissioners of the ERC the only response I got was from the investigator, Mr Smith in October 2020, stating that the ERC will investigate my new complaint then total silence since. Based on my experience with the ERC I feel that this entity needs to work harder on being impartial. Space does not permit me to go into the details of my encounter however, if anyone from the ERC has doubts about my claims they can visit https://lifeingy.com/is-the-ethnic-relations-commission-biased/ for the details.
The MoE needs to train its officers better
Often little issues arise between individuals in the workplace and given that Guyana is a multi-ethnic society the likelihood that the affected parties would be of different ethnicities is very high. As a mediator, manager or administrator whose role it is to resolve interpersonal problems and create a more harmonious environment then the basic qualities that one should possess are fairness, good communication and decision-making skills. Bad education officers do more harm than good and create greater disunity. The MoE has a so-called prestigious management programme but what is it exactly teaching to its VIPs because if they can’t address simple matters between teachers then what can they truly accomplish when the day is up? The top brass at the MoE need to revise this programme and retrain most if not all of their officers; for starters teach them to be fair to everyone regardless of status or ethnicity and how to pick up the telephone and exercise their authority when dealing with an unprofessional subordinate.
Better management and leadership practices and skills are needed from education officers
All of the problems I outlined and the many others that I didn’t could have been avoided if the education officers had simply given me the transfer and/or address the allegations I made in a cordial and fair manner. No spanking or drastic measures were needed. And when I encountered problems while attempting to become a Trained Teacher, a simple phone call to Ms Crandon could have avoided all the unpleasantness that followed. The MoE gives the public the impression that teachers are encouraged and given 100% support by the ministry to pursue training and other professional/academic pursuits yet this was not my experience although I sought assistance from those in charge. The MoE frowns upon teachers going to the press with their problems yet it doesn’t offer the needed support or treats me as a valued employee so what does it expect me to do?
