Dom Rep school says J'can teacher breached professional ethics
Published:Tuesday | May 15, 2018 | 12:00 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
A representative of the Colegio Continental School in the Dominican Republic has denied claims by a Jamaican teacher who last month accused the institution of mistreatment and unfair dismissal.
Alwyn Allen complained bitterly to The Gleaner about a month ago that the school did not facilitate him getting a work permit and overworked him.
However, Claudia Read, accreditation and international affairs facilitator at the school, recently explained that Allen's contract was not terminated on grounds that he was speaking out against various injustices, as he claimed.
She said that the contract was terminated because his behaviour became overly aggressive and threatening towards fellow teachers. Parents allegedly were also concerned that he was discreetly requesting gifts from students.
REQUESTING PRESENTS
"We were told about his behaviour, about him requesting presents from the children, which is not an ethical practice. He would ask [them] and would say, 'Do not tell your parents'. We have conversations via WhatsApp, because parents brought it to the office," Read alleged.
"We told him try not to ask for favours because it is unethical. We had more than one family come to the school to say, 'Look, these conversations are very compromising, and I don't want my child to be asked for so many favours'," she related.
Read added: "The other issue was that he was threatening the other teachers with whom he was sharing an apartment complex. He called them names in Jamaican slang and they felt they were not respected. The well-being and security of our teachers are important, and that is something we do not negotiate," she said.
The Colegio Continental School official disclosed that Allen was given more subjects to teach when the school was short-staffed, but he demanded more money. She also claimed that Allen was told to take the necessary documentation to speed up the process of filing for a work permit. However, he and a couple of other Jamaicans did not present the documents.