| CORENTYNE, BERBICE – Headmaster of Port Mourant Secondary School,Authentic China Jerseys, Colin Bynoe, has been announced as the new president of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU),Cheap Jerseys For Wholesale, after the just concluded Biennial Elections. Bynoe learnt of himself winning the presidency on Saturday afternoon, after votes were tallied and counted at the GTU Headquarters at Woolford Avenue in Georgetown.Even though final figures of the votes would not be released until later this week,China NFL Jerseys, after which he would be sworn in, Bynoe has spoken with one of his colleagues, Mr Milne Seymour, who also ran for the position of president.GTU president-elect Colin BynoeWhen Kaieteur News made contact with Mr Seymour, he said that he offered congratulations to Bynoe and says that he hopes that he would be able to work with him during the course of his presidency.Bynoe entered the teaching profession in 1978, and during his first week on the job, he was pushed by Leonard Dabydeen “to stay close to the Guyana Teachers’ Union; to support the GTU and to learn about trade unionism in Guyana.” Since then, Bynoe has held numerous top positions within the union from as early as 1984. Currently, he is the union’s Regional Vice-President of Berbice, a position he has held since 2005.Speaking to Kaieteur News about his future plans for the union, Bynoe said that he considers the operation and proper functioning of the various regional branches of the union a crucial task which must be done immediately. “We have to work hard to get the branches working. That is important—that is crucial for success.”“We have to have an effective educational programme for all our members and continue to work on constitutional reform [within the Union]. I intend to work towards the establishment of a collective labour agreement with our employer [the Ministry of Education]”, Bynoe stated. He vowed to build a stronger relationship with the Ministry of Education so that the union’s policies and plans can move forward smoothly.“We have to forget the ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for a tooth’ principles, and work towards building harmony and full respect for this organization,” he reaffirmed. “If we don’t have proper transparency and accountability, we will not be able to gain teachers’ respect,Cheap NFL Wholesale Jerseys,” Bynoe said.Touching on the sore issue of violence in schools and corporal punishment, Bynoe said, “The time has come for our teachers to stand up for their rights. Parents have misinterpreted a lot about corporal punishment and it ‘being abolished’. Parents are boldly saying that teachers cannot beat the children, failing to realize that the current provisions in the law cater for the head teacher administering the punishment on students depending on the severity of the situation,” he said.Bynoe said that some children tend to capitalize on their parents’ false notions about corporal punishment. “Because of this, students have become boldfaced and are pelting teachers with bottles. The time has come to stand up. The Ministry of Education has to put stronger measures in place. Culturally, we should not have abolished corporal punishment. We removed it too quick without countering measures and combating what we were doing before. The Ministry of Education needs to ensure that the time administrators and teachers have to spend day after day dealing with all manner of indisciplined students, could have been spent delivering the curriculum”, Bynoe mentioned.He is of the opinion that wayward students should be channeled to counseling.“There is need for the establishment of counseling and guidance departments to look into matters of deviant behaviours of children, stiffer penalties must be meted out to students who feel they have a right to abuse our teachers. Special schools should be established in the various regions. The strong arm of the law must be upheld. The Home Affairs Ministry will take care of them [recalcitrant students] after they leave the school system.” The Ministry of Education needs to move swiftly on this matter or teachers might have to start taking matters in their own hands,” Bynoe said.He is also adamant that a more functional website for the union and its members would empower teachers to stay more connected with each other, share information such as resources, teaching lesson plans, etc. “Building a website—that is so crucial, so that our members can be updated. If we get a website going, and our teachers are updated, they will know what to do, the president-elect said.“Rome wasn’t built in a day. Lots of things we have to do will take time—and it takes lots of strong commitment from every teacher out there,” he stated.Bynoe’s academic credentials include a Trained Grade I Class I Teacher’s Certificate and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with specialization in Administration in the public education system. He has represented the GTU on numerous occasions in The Bahamas, Grenada, and St Croix.Regional Education Officer of Region Six, Ms Shafiran Bhajan, was elated at the news when Kaieteur News telephoned her on Sunday evening. “I am very happy that Mr Bynoe has been elected as GTU president, mainly because of his professionalism as an educator. He’s very professional in as much as he has the teachers’ well being at heart. His major goal as an educator is to see the advancement of education. He has been very supportive of the teachers of this region as a member of the Regional Education Committee of Region Six,” the chief education official in the region stated.Mr Dennis Armogan,Discount NFL Jerseys, Chairperson of the Regional Education Committee in Berbice,Wholesale Jerseys From China, when contacted via telephone said that he too was happy that Mr Bynoe will soon ascend to the presidency of the teachers’ union. “I am glad he’s been elected. He has been a good person to deal with, we [at the Regional Education Committee] can relate with Colin. It augers well for the furthering of relations with the Regional Education Committee [to which Bynoe is a member] and the Union. He’s a good fella, he’s always shown respect, good decorum, he doesn’t stand for nonsense, when a teacher is wrong , Colin will tell a teacher he’s wrong. He will make a good president. He will represent the people and the system as well. He’s a fair guy. In these modern times, that’s what makes a good president,” he said.Bynoe is slated to be sworn in sometime later this week in Georgetown during a national GTU conference which began yesterday. (Leon Suseran) |
