Education Minister Robert Peneux.
PARAMARIBO--Education Minister Robert Peneux on Wednesday requested an honourable discharge from President Desi Bouterse, following a vote of no confidence that the Council of Secondary School Principals issued against him. But while the President has announced that he has taken the Minister’s request under consideration, staff at the Ministry as well as the student union have stated that they do not want Peneux to step down.
The Minister’s request comes at the height of discord with the Council regarding wages and overtime pay to teachers. As per a decision Government took in October “to curb overtime chaos,” teachers can no longer register extra hours at will. Peneux referred to the overtime situation as a “nyan paty,” a pot from which anyone is free to feast.
This led to immediate protest from the Principals, and ultimately their Council stated on Tuesday that they no longer trusted Minister Peneux. An official statement by the Cabinet of President Bouterse said on Thursday that the Minister had decided to offer his resignation as a matter of principle.
“President Bouterse has meanwhile requested Vice President Ashwin Adhin to meet with the Council of Secondary School Principals and to try his utmost to prevent discontinuation of education in the country,” the statement from the Cabinet read. “The President calls on all teachers and school principals to fulfil their educational tasks, in the interest of the Surinamese child. The interest and the future of the youth are central in the development vision of Government.”
It said no further statements would be forthcoming from the Cabinet about Minister Peneux’ resignation until the President makes a decision.
But the Minister’s staff and the National Student Platform are of the opinion that the decision was easy. The Student Platform sent an open letter to President Bouterse, urging him not to accept Peneux’ resignation. “Governments and Ministers come and go, but at least this Minister has had the guts to push through with policies. We stand behind him and we plead with you not to accept his resignation, but rather give him the space to continue with the reforms that are needed. We do ask, however, that the Minister mind his tone of speech in the future and say things he has to say with more nuance,” the students wrote.
Then on Thursday the Minister’s staff members barricaded the entrance to the Ministry’s headquarters in Zorg en Hoop, Paramaribo, urging Peneux not to step down because “that would be giving in to the demands of unions who are only out to destabilise the education system.”
But their protest was met with resistance from their union. Guno Sabajo, who heads the union of Education Ministry staff, said that he was not supporting the demonstration because it seemed a bit off. “This is not the first time this Minister is at the centre of unrest and this time he took a decision to offer his resignation. And I did not hear any protest from the staff when other people were fired in the past,” he said.
If President Bouterse were to grant Peneux his request to resign, Peneux would be the third Minister to resign from the Cabinet this year. Earlier former Justice Minister Jennifer van Dijk-Silos stepped down; her predecessor Eugene van der San only lasted a week before he was let go as well.
Peneux’ tenure at the Education Ministry has seen a continuous string of disputes with the education field, namely the teachers’ unions BvL and ASL. The Minister famously burst out in tears during a live radio interview in April last year, while complaining about teachers that were striking at the time.
