Valies says MinOWC is neglected plantation

“The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (MinOWC) is a neglected plantation,” Wilgo Valies, chairman of the Teachers’ Association (BvL) and the Alliance of Teachers in Suriname (ALS), told union members in Mata Gauri on Tuesday. Valies pointed out that there are no records at the ministry. “If you lose your diploma and go to the ministry to ask for a copy, it will not be there,” said Valies who added that if the organization functioned properly the commission that has been tasked with preparing the implementation of the revaluation of teachers would have received the information in no time and that resorting to other sources for information such as Cebuma where play slips are printed would not be necessary. The government has reportedly told the unions that it would not meet the target date of January 1 for the implementation of the revaluation and that implementation would happen when it was clear how many teachers there are and how what type of allowance they get paid currently. The unions deem this a specious argument and have made it clear that they do not want to wait until the end of March because there are no guarantees that the revaluation will happen then. During the negotiations with the government the unions have proposed implementing the revaluation in February. The government responded by saying that it would not be possible because the information is coming in at a slow pace. The union chairman pointed out that the government is making up excuses to delay the implementation of the revaluation. Valies made it clear that the government in April 2016 signed an agreement regarding the revaluation with the BvL and the FOLS. “Does the government need that many months to gather the information? The government always has some answer ready and evidently thinks that teachers have noodles in their brains.”