The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) has raised concerns about the impact planned increases in the pensionable age could have on its members, amid growing concerns about teacher wellness and workplace stress.
General Secretary Gilbert Carmichael said the BUT intended to engage the relevant ministries on the issue, particularly as the pensionable age is due to rise from 67 to 67 and a half in 2028, and to 68 in 2034.
Carmichael’s concerns centre on whether workers will live long enough to benefit from their pensions under the planned increases.
“One of the biggest issues for us is teacher wellness. Over the past three months or so, we’ve lost three teachers, three very young teachers under the age of 50,” he said.
“If education transformation is supposed to be successful, you have to look at how we’re going to cater to the health and wellness of teachers in this country.”
Although the BUT had no statistics establishing the causes of the teachers’ deaths, he said conversations with bereaved families had raised questions.
“We are seeing too many teachers who are of very young ages passing away, and a lot of them, though we don’t have statistics at present, we know that anecdotally, when we engage with the families of these teachers who have passed away, a lot of it has to do with stress-related illnesses,” he said.
Carmichael said the union would write to the relevant ministries to outline its concerns.
The union wants the relevant authorities to gain a clearer understanding of the pressures teachers face and take steps to protect their well-being.
“Teaching in 2026 is certainly not teaching in 2020, and though it’s only a six-year gap, things have changed drastically and we have to make sure that we stand in the vanguard and protect our teachers from such sorry and sad demises.”
Teacher wellness and workplace stress are expected to feature in discussions during the BUT’s Teacher’s Week of activities, being held under the theme, Transformation or Reform: Measuring Success Beyond Policy.
The week begins on October 25 with a church service at the Church of God in Orange Hill and concludes with a President’s Reception on October 30.
Meanwhile, Carmichael welcomed the Ministry of Education, Transformation’s renewed approach to introducing more special needs teachers into the school system, but said the initiative would require greater resources to succeed.
He said the BUT supported the principle that every child deserved equitable access to quality education.
However, he warned that successful inclusion required trained personnel, specialist support, appropriate facilities, adequate resources and manageable class sizes.
“If you’re talking about inclusivity, and I am a teacher that is accustomed to dealing with 25 to 30 children, and then you are adding children with special needs [who] don’t have the support, then there are going to be problems that will result,” he said.
(SB)
