~Acting Head of DPE replaced by Guyanese national, ~ management team insulted in the meeting. ~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Civil Servants working in the Department of Education are expressing concern over what is described as a rift between the management team and the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Rodolphe Samuel.
The members of the management team had requested a meeting with the Minister to discuss communication, capacity, management, motivation, and the working environment some weeks ago. SMN News learned that the Minister met with the civil servants on March 17th but allegedly he insulted the staff instead of bringing solutions to their problems and concerns.
On April 19th, 2021, the Minister of ECYS dispatched a letter to Acting Secretary General Shermina Powell Richardson informing her that he has taken the decision to relieve Ms. Marcella Henry of her responsibilities as Acting Head of the Department of Education and have appointed Mr. Daison Marks as the Acting Head of the DPE. It should be noted that Mr. Marks is a national of Guyana and his appointment has raised concerns among many within the civil service.
Certain politicians have also posted the new developments within the Ministry of ECYS on Facebook where a discussion is ongoing on social media. One of the points of concern is the fact that locals that have held the position as acting head for a number of years are not being considered for the permanent position to head the department of education. While the Minister chose to replace Ms. Henry, he again appointed another acting head, instead of pooling his resources among locals that are highly qualified for the position, or even publishing the position so that a qualified department head could be hired.
It should be noted that the former Council of Ministers (NA/USP/DP) had taken a decision to privatize the Division of Public Education, back then under the former Minister of ECYS Silveria Jacobs the Council of Ministers wanted to form a ZBO which would have given the Minister ECYS much more involvement in the curriculum and programming. It is understood that the former Minister of ECYS Wycliffe Smith also worked on the privatization, however, such cooperation was not received from the staff of the Division of Public Education.
SMN News further understands that the former Council of Ministers and Minister of EYCS did not publish the position to hire a head instead they allowed Ms. Marcella Henry to remain in the acting position until the privatization process is completed.
So far, it is not clear if the current Minister of ECYS will move ahead with the privatization for the division of public education especially since the former Minister of ECYS that took the decision is now the Prime Minister of the current cabinet Jacobs 2.
SMN News contacted the Minister of ECYS Rodolphe Samuel for a comment on the appointment of Mr. Marks. The Minister said he does not have any comments to make at this time, since the letter in his opinion is self-explanatory.
On Wednesday, the Minister of ECYS released the following information regarding the removal of Marcella Henry as acting DPE and appointing Mr. Daisan Marks to the position.
On 1 April 2021, I had a meeting with acting SG Powell-Richardson, who is the manager responsible for the daily affairs of the ministry, and during that meeting, I informed her of my intention to start the process of making three (3) Acting positions in the ministry, permanent positions
On Friday, the 16 of April 2021, during my weekly meeting with Acting SG Powell-Richardson, I informed her that I decided to relieve Ms. Henry, who held two positions, that of UNESCO and also Acting head of Department Public Education of the responsibilities as the Acting head of DPE, because of the workload.
On Monday, the 19 of April 2021, I had a short meeting with Acting SG Powell-Richardson, and in that meeting, we continued discussing removing the responsibilities of DPE from Marcella Henry and giving those responsibilities of DPE to Mr. Daison Mark.
Mr. Daison Marks has worked for the government of Sint Maarten for the past 18 years and continues to do so. He worked for the ministry of ECYS and has also taught at the Sundial school for 8 years as a qualified teacher.
I asked SG Powell – Richardson to call a meeting with all involved, and that this meeting took place around 11 AM on Monday.
In the meeting, I informed Ms. Marcellia Henry of my decision to relieve her of the responsibilities of DPE, and that those responsibilities will be passed unto Mr. Marks.
At that moment, Ms. Henry got up and shook Mr. Marks’ hand, and congratulated him.
Ms. Marcellia Henry, who remains the SG of UNESCO, continues to work for the ministry of ECYS.
I ask all involved for their cooperation in the transfer of information and documents and told everyone that I would write them regarding what took place in the meeting.
I wrote 5 letters, and I have seen one of them on social media. The letter written to Acting SG Powell-Richardson personally is the one that I saw on social media.
This leads me to question the integrity of persons in the administration.
The process of making the 3 acting positions permanent positions will continue.
In regards to the transfer of DPE, I have been advised to rectify the financial situation of DPE and regulate all employee's rights and privileges, even those of the teachers, before continuing with the transformation of DPE.
In July 2020, I asked the Acting SG to put a hold on the transfer of DPE and put attention on the financial and employees’ situation. That process has already started with the rectifying of all employee files.
Read letters between staff of ECYS and Minister Samuel.
