Soliciting funds from students for extra lessons, unethical – Teachers’ Union President

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU) Oswald Robinson is reminding his colleagues that it is not only unethical, but illegal to solicit funds from students of their class, for extra lessons.

A forthright Robinson made this clear to SEARCHLIGHT in a recent interview.{{more}}

This reiteration from the SVGTU president comes in light of recent developments at some educational institutions, where teachers have been initiating after-school classes for remuneration.

“It is unethical and illegal to charge students for tutoring or lessons of students of their own class….

“It is unethical according to our code of conduct and illegal in relation to the Education Act number 34 of 2006…. It is part of our professionalism…. Teachers must refrain from doing this,” Robinson declared.

Part Two (6) of the code, captioned: “The Teacher and the Student” states, “The teacher should not solicit pay for tutoring outside of the regular school hours, a student of his/her class.”

“People must adhere to the code of conduct and people must adhere to the Education Act … It is a legal framework on which we operate,” Robinson expounded.

Robinson, however, noted that the initiative to hold such classes must be on the insistence of the parents and not the teachers.

“If the parents initiate something, let them pay you for your time… You (the teacher) should not initiate and say I am going to have lessons and demand that you pay,” Robinson stated.

“That’s a different arrangement, so you (the teacher) will choose where you are going to have that, because if you are using the State facility, that might be an issue… You might have to contribute to the State for using their facilities,” the SVGTU head reasoned.

When quizzed about whether the charges for lessons form part of the teachers’ supplementary income, Robinson said, “When you complete your income tax form, you must declare it if you are honest enough.

“I know some of my members, when they read this, would not be happy about this, but I have to call a spade a spade… I have to be fair to the children of the nation and to the other stakeholders,” Robinson concluded. (RT)