BREAKING POINT!!

FOR THE PAST DECADE TEACHERS AT ANNAI SECONDARY HAVE BEEN
WEIGHED DOWN by the belligerence of the Head Mistress, Ms. Sharmaine David.
Their complaints to the Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) Education Department
during those long years have gone virtually unheeded too.
Then their woes suddenly doubled when the HM’s son became a member of staff.
They all agreed that he is a prototype of his mother. And with his employment, there was a two-
fold rise in acrimony, hostility and unwarranted corrosive comments.
“It’s one thing dealing with Miss David (the HM) and her drama, but to have now to deal with
her son! He operates as though his mother is the ultimate boss, believing that he can say and do
whatever he wants.”
This, some teachers said, has emboldened him to maintain his abrasive attitude towards teachers
resistant to his mother’s own undignified behaviour.
The prospect of a regular confrontation with mother and son, is demoralising to the Annai
Secondary School teachers, since for the past 10 years the HM has been “spiteful and vindictive
and her selfish actions don’t help the situation,” one of the teachers said.
From the hurting teachers’ point of view, the Ministry must bear some blame for the
reprehensible situation at the school too.
“The Department of Education in Region Nine continues to brush aside the issue, claiming that
Central Ministry may not have taken our complaints seriously. So, that is our position,” one of
the aggrieved teachers, speaking only on conditions of strict anonymity, told this media house.

Said another, “This matter is just sickening and people are so stressed and fed up because when
the story broke, several Ministry of Education officials came in and demanded letters from all the
teachers accusing many of us of leaking information to the media. However, that wasn’t a leak as
all we spoke about was the treatment and behavior of the Head Teacher who continues to run this
school into the ground as a result of her actions and attitude.”
Some teachers have reached breaking point. They want out: some out of the school via transfers.
Others have confided that they want out of the Region and ultimately, out of the profession.
“It seems like this head teacher is untouchable because despite the complaints made against her,
no action is being taken and the Central Ministry will only come to their senses when the
teachers either takes transfers or leaves the profession because teachers’ mental health is equally
important and working in these conditions certainly wouldn’t help anyone.”
“Additionally, now that her son is at the school and he feels that he has power because his
mother is the head teacher, the situation has worsened. I know that many of us want to get out at
all cost irrespective of what,” another teacher told www.aroundtheregions.com
Should Central Ministry do a balanced and thorough investigation they would conclude that the
HM is not the right fit for the school. The teachers recalled several parents and students along
with teachers there for years have levelled a number of damning complaints against the school’s
administrator, “with no meaningful action being taken”.
They wondered how come MoE officers still operate like they living in the 1960s while
conducting investigations hoping to find them culpable for information leaks.
“The Ministry has to understand that in these modern times with the advancement of information
technology, nothing stays silent or secret, and the Ministry will learn when they are exposed,”
some teachers noted.

Get comments from Region Nine Department of Education officers proved futile. However one
of them did admit that Annai Secondary has a host of issues which the Department has been
trying to correct over the years.
“There are a number of issues going on at Annai and while we are not in a position to comment,
what I can say is that certainly something must be done by Central Ministry as indeed teachers
are at a breaking point and ultimately the students are the ones who will suffer greatly and this
shouldn’t be. It seems like the teachers are not prepared to work with the headmistress but that’s
a decision for the Central Ministry,” the official said.
Meanwhile, this media house contacted Regional Vice Chairman, Mr. Bertie Xavier who
sympathised with the teachers’ perennial plight.
“I understand what the teachers are going through, but unfortunately no meaningful action has
been taken. I can understand why the teachers are all wondering why their pleas and requests
have not been responded to. We just have to wait and see what will be the Ministry of
Education’s action on the situation. But yes, the students are the ones greatly affected by all of
this.”
If you are wondering how the VC can ‘walk in the teacher shoes’ it is because he was a former
teacher.
And he admitted that working with Ms. Sharmaine David at times “was like hell”.
He must know!
He was a Senior Teacher at that very school