Teachers had expected that their working conditions would be improved and their salary aligned with the secondary sector in the PRB Report 2008. But they were flabbergasted by some recommendations. They took it by shock that there the grade of T/ST woud become Educator and that T/ST GP and T/ST AL have to join this new grade. This is Fusion. Since long, the system of T/ST GP and T/ST has existed. Each category has its specificity and when this system is being dismantled, many doubts are filling the minds of teachers.

Teachers want to know (i) if the new grade Educators comprising AL teachers will have class responsibilities; (ii) if their workload will be the same as GP teachers; (iii) if promotional prospects will undergo changes. Everyone knows that management had wished a single grade of Educator to be created. But many teachers received a cold shower on knowing that unions had given their blessing to this grade.

An extract of the PRB Report (Section 22.19) confirms this. ?All the staff unions were agreeable with the proposal for a single establishment for both General Purpose Teachers and Oriental Languages Teachers. As regards the proposal for the new appellation of Educator, all of them were in favour except one.? Two years ago a survey was organised on fusion. A majority of teachers were against it. Can it be deduced that certain unions have gone against the wishes of their grass-root level members?

Promotion to HT will be done by competition amongst DHTs, mentors, HPE instructors and teachers on certain specific conditions. DHTs are feeling frustrated and disappointed. Who would believe that DHTs had participated in a protest march in favour of seniority organised by their unions. They will be surprised to learn from the following extract (Section 22.20) from the PRB Report that more weightage was given to promotion T/ST to DHT rather than from DHT to HT.

?Though the most representative unions agree that competencies required of the Head Teacher/Senior Head Teacher are different from those of Teachers and the mode of appointment be reviewed. They laid stress on the fact that the selection process has not given the desired result in the past. Their objection to the change is more pronounced with regard to promotion from Teacher/Senior Teacher to Deputy Head Teacher on the ground that the Teacher/Senior Teachers should be guaranteed at least one promotion in their career. Evidently the union of Deputy Head Teachers was strongly against any change in the mode of promotion to the grade of Head Teacher/Senior Head Teacher.?

Finally, primary school teachers have lost on the question of alignment with the secondary sector as the gap is widening. Primary school teachers know that for PRB 2003, De Chazal du Mée had prepared the memorandum to be submitted to PRB. They are still asking who has prepared it for this year.

<B>Sunilduth MUNGUR</B> <I>Ralliement des Démocrates</I>