The truth behind everything lies within the facts and the emotional outcry of the Teachers at P.S.V.E. The fingerprint machine and threat of losing your job sends a clear dictatorship leadership style message to the teachers if they don't register. "Be prepared to fight for your job" was the message sent from management to the teachers for standing up for their constitutional rights.The school board does not care about their teachers, the school board cares about making more money from the tax payers, funding agency, the government. The school board is never aware of the activities and the stress that teachers go through on a daily basis. How could they with only two members?
Teachers have been dealing with issues from this school board from year 1 until now. Teachers still have to walk up and down for classes, teachers are still abused by students, teachers are still told to be creative with insufficient resources. Can the finger print machine help?
How can you teach a computer class without a functioning computer room? There are students who have NOT received computer lessons in 2 years. Currently there are still students that are not receiving any computer lessons. Who is responsible? But yet they have a fingerprint machine. What is more important?
The problem with all of this in the eyes of the teachers is that the school board is willing to invest money in monitoring teachers rather than dealing with the bigger issues on campus. If the school board knows who the culprits are that are abusing the system why not deal with them.
As a teacher how would you interpret that? The teachers have been dealing with serious issues for many years in silence. Some of these issues are:
- Outdated and insufficient text books for student.
- Lack of teaching materials.
- Non- functioning computer lab and necessary software for more than one year.
- No photocopy machine.
- Dilapidated infrastructure and classrooms.
- Hanging ceiling tiles.
- Improper and inadequate safety measures.
- Rooms with exposed electrical wires.
- 62 teachers that aren't registered with the APNA pension fund.
- No curriculum for some subjects.
- Insufficient classroom space.
- Threats of losing their jobs or renewing their papers and conflict of interest.
- Inadequate and unfair disciplinary measures taken against some students.
- Inappropriate gestures to students by teachers.
- Insufficient bathrooms for teachers.
On several occasions the teachers have expressed concerns to management and the school board about these problems, but nothing had been done. After all the complaints more bathrooms were built for the students and 4 class rooms were renovated. However, how can you have a staff of over 50 personnel and only 2 bathrooms? This is neither sanitary nor healthy for teachers.The government authorities haven't inspected the premises adequately to insure the safety of the students and staff. If they did, how come they never saw the exposed wires and falling ceiling in many of classes?
This makes you wonder about quality control. Many of these classes have been in the same state for years. Some classes have rust and mold on the walls and on the beams. If you are wondering what happened to the front part of the school, sometime last year the extending front portion collapsed where the students usually have assembly.
Pension Fund
There are 62 persons not registered for the APNA pension fund but yet the money comes out of their salaries every month. When contacting APNA about the whereabouts of the monies they are clueless themselves, especially when those 62 teachers aren't registered in their system. Where is the money? One teacher reported that up to 31.000 guilders has been deducted from their salary over the years. If they are not registered by APNA, where is the money?
Computer Lab
The computer lab has been out of order for more than a year. This situation is so bad that students can't receive any lesson because of this. Students are frustrated with the lack of knowledge in that area but yet nothing has been done to fix this problem. How can you allow students to sit in an exam that requires them to use the computer but yet have no skills or knowledge to use it?
Look at this computer room to the right, where are the computers?
In another computer lab there aren't any computers to teach the students information technology or WPR. How can this happen?
Text Books
Parents are required to pay a school fee of Naf 780, - per child but yet their children aren't given any text books for years. How do the teachers teach without text books? Why do parents pay a school fee if their child cannot have a text book? When they do use books from school they are outdated.
Graduation
The graduation was cancelled last year after a years' worth of preparation by teachers and students. In order to make their graduation feel special they rented out the WESTIN conference room to the school. Graduation gowns were purchased and invitation went out to parents and then the school board broke the morale of everyone by cancelling the graduation. The school board was under no obligation to finance this event because it was already paid for by the students.
The point of the matter is, if the school board is subsidized by government and paid by the parents in the form of school fees in order to maintain a safe and healthy environment, what happened? The teachers have been over-worked and taken for granted for many years and government is allowing the school board to violate their constitutional rights.
What's next? This has been going on for a long time and no one has tried to better the situation. Teachers are tired, but committed to their students and their jobs. They should not have to decide whether they want to keep their job over an issue such as this, which borders on violating rights to privacy stipulated in our constitution.
So tell me, who would want to remain in this dangerous environment, and can the finger printing machine solve this problem?
Click here to view more photos of St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E.
Micheal Thomas
