New preliminary teachers’ promotion list satisfactory - GTU

Two months after it began a review of the 2015 applications for senior promotions, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has issued a preliminary list, which the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has deemed much more satisfactory than the first.

According to what was posted on the TSC website yesterday, the promotions, if finalized, would be retroactive to September, 2015.

According to GTU President Mark Lyte, the union is much more satisfied with this list which includes 73 changes from the list issued in 2015.

“These 73 changes are a clear indication that the first list was flawed and the union’s action justified,” Stabroek News yesterday.

Asked about the retroactive nature of the appointments, Lyte referred to a ruling made by the High Court in November 2016. That ruling ordered the TSC to review “all applications for promotions in the Teaching Service afresh for the year 2015.” Lyte claimed that the wording of the order suggests that the appointments should be retroactive, which would make the published information about the appointment date accurate.

Stabroek News attempted to reach TSC Chair Leila Ramson for confirmation but was unable to do so as her phone went unanswered. Lyte told

In January, the TSC which had been engaged in a protracted legal battle with the teachers’ union over the promotion of senior teachers, began a review of the 2015 senior promotions pursuant to the order issued by the High Court, in November, 2016.

The order granted by the High Court deemed the 2015 preliminary senior promotion list for public school teachers “unlawful, ultra vires, irrational, unreasonable, wholly in excess of jurisdiction, unreasonable, null, void and of no legal effect, in breach of the Teaching Service Commission Rules, in breach of and a denial of the principles of Natural Justice and legitimate expectations and ultra vires in breach of the Teaching Service Commission Act, Cap 39:07.”

In December, the TSC said that it had decided on “humanitarian grounds” to comply with the order. Ramson had told Stabroek News then that a special full commission meeting was scheduled for early in January, “to plan the review” which “will definitely take a few months, since a thorough review of approximately 5,000 applications will be done.”

The list published yesterday includes more than 300 proposed appointments and advises that requests for a review of any decision must be sent directly to the Secretary, Teaching Service Commission no later than Tuesday, April 11, 2017.