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  • 1 year ago
Another warning to government from protesting faculty members at the University of the West Indies...if their wage demands are not resolved, their protest will escalate.

President of the Indian Group of University Teachers or (WIGUT) Dr. Indira Rampersad says they are still working on 2014 salaries and they will not be accepting any excuses from government, or the 4%.

Nicole M Romany reports.
Transcript
00:00The Uyghur president sought to make it clear that the intention is not to target the students,
00:07but to get what is rightfully due.
00:10The lecturers have been withholding students' grades in an effort to get government to pay
00:15up.
00:16Dr. Rampersad says they refuse to be ignored.
00:19And this action is only the beginning.
00:21DR.
00:22JANUARY JOLT, Uyghur Presidential Candidate, India
00:23So, we have launched January Jolt this month.
00:25It's January Jolt.
00:27Next week is a red revolution.
00:29We will be protesting.
00:30A week after that, we are going to have a week of rest and reflection.
00:34We're in white.
00:35And a week after that, it's going to be black.
00:38If it's not settled, the entire semester may come grind to a halt.
00:43Dr. Rampersad says they are rejecting any notion of a lack of or limited financial resources.
00:51She tells TV6 they will not relent in their mission to get a fair compensation.
00:56The question of that there is no money doesn't fly anymore, because we see a prime minister
01:01getting 47 percent, and we have seen enormous increases for public officials in the realm
01:07of $10,000, $12,000 a month.
01:10So I don't think you can now come and tell the population, well, I don't have money for
01:14you, but I have for me or for us.
01:17She notes that Minister Stuart Young has said that he intends to revisit the curriculum
01:23when he becomes prime minister.
01:24We hope the new prime minister, and we hope this is before, because he's now planning,
01:29is going to take this issue.
01:31You talked about curriculum reform.
01:33Yes.
01:34And I suppose he was referring to primary and secondary.
01:37At a university, we determine, you know, we have our bodies that, you know, passes all
01:43our, approve all our curriculum.
01:45But they really have to look at compensating educators adequately for them to stay in the
01:51system.
01:52So in the primary and secondary school system, you have all these disciplinary problems.
01:55At the university, we are a preeminent tertiary institution in the region.
02:00She warns that several educators are leaving the country for more lucrative opportunities
02:06abroad.
02:08Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
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