Philipsburg:--- President of the Windward Island Teachers Union (WITU) Claire Elshot told reporters on Thursday during the Windward Island Chamber of Labour Unions' weekly press conference that she visited some of the schools on Monday and she was impressed with the work done at the Marie Genevieve de Weever School. However, Elshot said she still believes that government has to place more emphasis on having gyms at the schools which would further enhance sports on St. Maarten. Elshot said that she was informed by the management of the Marie Genevieve de Weever School that a basketball court will be built in the courtyard and she welcomes the idea since it is one of the things she has been asking government to do over the years.
The WITU President said that she was also impressed with the work done to the Lionel Connor School and the participation of the Parent Teachers Association who painted a section of the school in a different color.
Teachers' Evaluation creating Crisis and Shortage of Teachers.
Elshot also told reporters on Thursday that the teachers' evaluation procedure that is currently implemented on St. Maarten is creating a crisis and shortage of teachers. Elshot said that she visited a lawyer on Thursday morning seeking legal advice because at least one teacher is highly affected by the evaluation procedure.
Furthermore, she said a number of teachers that are supposed to be on pension are currently in the classroom teaching because the schools on St. Maarten are short staffed and therefore they had to give teachers that should be on pension contracts so that they can continue teaching. "I am not saying these teachers are not fit to teach, what I am saying is that room should be made for younger teachers that are highly qualified but St. Maarten has failed to recognize them as qualified teachers which is against the ILO declaration. I sent a document outlining how teachers should be treated and evaluated to the Minister of Education and to the head of DERPI and to date I have not gotten a response from the Minister of Education." Elshot said that the older teachers should be used differently and in a different setting. "It is my opinion that these teachers that have so much knowledge and experience should be the ones writing our Social Studies books because the island has a lot of history that needs to be documented. I don't think our Social Studies books should be written by Macmillan without our teachers' input."