BUT warns Alma Parris teacher contracts could set precedent

A dispute is apparently brewing at the recently revived Alma Parris Academy, with the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) opposing an alleged attempt to engage teachers as independent contractors and warning that the arrangement could set a precedent across the public education system.

Three teachers are currently at the centre of the dispute, but BUT General Secretary Gilbert Carmichael fears the implications could extend beyond Alma Parris if the arrangement is allowed to take root.

The controversy comes less than two years after the government reopened the St Peter school following a seven-year closure and a $1.2 million first phase of renovations, with teachers specially selected for the revamped institution.