Last night, we told you about the meeting of the San Ignacio Branch of the Belize National Teachers Union. Those teachers were suggesting that the Monday strike should be extended, with no clear announcement as to when exactly it would end.

That’s a suggestion that National President Luke Palacio committed to take back to the Council of Management for final approval. But, the Ministry of Education isn’t waiting around; they’ve sprung into action to keep schools open, at all costs.

The ministry and the Managing Authorities of schools countrywide are activating contingency plans, prepared for the strike to continue past Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber and officials of his Ministry met representatives of those school managers today at the ITVET compound, and the news coming out of that meeting is that teachers will be hired on a temporary basis. They will be there to fill in and make sure that children are taken care of for however long the teachers decide to strike.

The Ministry sent out a release this evening saying quote, â€œThe Ministry of Education and the Attorney General’s Ministry will prepare a Statutory Instrument that will provide authority for the temporary employment of emergency replacements to substitute during industrial action. Potential emergency replacements will be recruited by Managing Authorities to be deployed if necessary if industrial action exceeds a certain amount of days.â€￾ End quote.

Today, our news team waited outside that Ministry and Management meeting, asked Education Minister Faber about this unprecedented, emergency action:

Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"We are task as the Ministry of Education to make sure that there is that efficient provision of education in this country and if it means that there is going to be the kind of industrial action that we'll see a prolonged interruption in the education services of this country; we are forced to act."

"Our move is to indeed convene a meeting of the national council, NC the national council for education and the NCTVET which is required by our education act and rules that we consult before making signing any statutory instrument into effect. We proposed to meet with the NC and the NCTVET on Friday and to consult with them. The union president in fact is a part of I believe both of those entities so he will be present, he will be invited; if he has not received the invitation I extend that invitation now."

"In an effort to try to ensure that we are doing things legally, I intend to sign the statutory instrument to amend the rules to allow for this permit to teach to be extended to allow for the hiring of teachers to assist in emergency situations like industrial action. I intend to have that signed and good to go by the end of the weekend, we have said of the managing authorities that is the general managers and the board chairs and whoever else is involved with the hiring that they should proceed with finding people who will meet the requirements of the permit to teach. Anybody who is in that category and the school's management sees if fit that they can be of assistance in keeping the doors of the school open, those are the person we have encouraged the management, the managing authorities to add to their list of potential person to be hired as temporary teachers."

"We have parents who have indicated to the schools listen if the teachers are not going to be there we are going to come in, we are going to help out and there is nothing necessarily wrong with that in theory but legally you cannot just bring anybody into the school system like that. There are concerns of course that we have and so we want to do things on a proper legal footing."

This afternoon, less than an hour after those morning meetings were completed, news of this intended SI went viral on Facebook, and condemnations of Faber’s actions were swift and numerous. We put a few of those criticisms to him today, and here’s what he had to say in response:

Micah Goodin - Krem
"How do you respond to criticism that this is perhaps another move by government at union busting?"

Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"Well I don't understand how that could be.."

Reporter
"Because we democratically have the right to demonstrate?"

Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"Ah no and I need to make that clear. Industrial action is properly warranted according to the education act and the accompanying rules and the amended rules; industrial action is warranted when there is a properly constituted labour dispute. All is now aware that in fact the 3% increment that the prime minister proposed for referral is not on the table."

"They made is clear, you've seen their flyer, it's not about the 3, it's about the country. That the 8 demands are what they are striking for so the closes you could have gotten to a labour dispute was for that 3% to be brought in. So as far as we are concerned this strike does not properly constitute a reason under our rules for the teachers union to be striking."

Daniel Ortiz
"Sir are your emergency measures not properly classified as scab labour or strike breaking?"

Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"No and you will know that the obligation, the mandate to me as minister of education and to my ministry the ministry of education that we must ensure that there is the delivery of education services in this country. You could term it whatever you want in terms of being whatever; but that is my obligation that is my job that is my responsibility that is the responsibility of my ministry - to make sure that the children of this country and by extension the citizen of this country because it's not limited to children alone; that they are offered education services and if there is something that is impeding that delivery of service, then is my obligation to try to find other mechanism to do that and that is exactly what we are doing."

Daniel Ortiz
"Couldn't this be interpreted as the government trying to muzzle the teachers?"

Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"Let me remind you again, I said it just now but let me be clear. This morning this meeting was with the managing authorities. General Managers for primary schools and board chairs and even their principals who serve on the board representing managing authorities at the secondary level; our purpose this morning was not to say to anybody support the government, you have to do what the government - that's not our purpose. Our purpose was to say to these managing authorities that under the law you're obligation is to make sure that schools remain open and that the services of education are offered."