St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union has apologized for a poster that suggested there are no qualified teachers in schools after over 200 educators were fired last year over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The union received strong criticism on social media after the poster was released on Thursday evening.
The message was conveyed in a poster advertising a protest organized by the union for next week in Kingstown, as the union calls for the reinstatement of the teachers, even as it challenges the government decision in court.
The poster, which featured a prominent photo of union spokesperson Fiona Charles, said the union would be protesting against “no quality teachers,” “poor results for exams,” and “no vaccination mandate.”
Union President Oswald Robinson apologized in a voice note sent to union members and the general public on Friday.
In the voice note, which was obtained by the Caribbean Media Corporation, Robinson made a sincere apology on behalf of the national executive of the union “for the error that went out from our poster today and even late yesterday evening. It was already in circulation.
“There was an error on it with regards to quality teachers. We are very sorry for the error that is on the poster. It should have been ‘we need more adequate, qualified teachers in the classroom.”
“And we are sorry for this misinformation,” Robinson said, adding that a new poster was being crafted and that the national executive was scrutinizing it, and it should be released shortly.
He thanked teachers and supporters of the union for their support in the last protest, which was held in Kingstown on August 18.
“And we’re looking forward to your support again this Monday, the 12th, and Tuesday, September 13, beginning at 10:30 a.m. We are expected to picket and also to march around the streets of Kingstown,” Robinson said.
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