{"id":142667,"date":"2021-12-03T12:05:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T16:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=142667"},"modified":"2021-12-03T12:05:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T16:05:56","slug":"gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

As teachers at a secondary school here protested government\u2019s vaccine mandate for the second day in less than a week, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced that his government will hire teachers, including retired educators, on short term contracts, to fill their place.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

He served notice during his weekly appearance on the state-owned NBC Radio, on Wednesday, as teachers at West St George Secondary School (WSGSS), responded to the call of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers\u2019 Union (SVGTU) and sat in their staff room, refusing to go to classes.<\/p>\n

The WSGSS teachers are standing in solitary with their colleagues who have opted to not get vaccinated against COVID-19. Last Friday, the teachers at the school, where about 11 of the 31 educators are unvaccinated, wore black and sat in their classroom in protest.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Unvaccinated teachers and other public sector workers for whom the jab is required but who have not obtained a medical or religious exemption, have until Friday to take the jab or be deemed to have abandoned their posts.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Prime Minister Gonsalves said that he had heard about the stance of teachers at WSGSS and the Ministry of Education was keeping him informed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am asking my brothers and sisters who are teaching in West St. George, please don\u2019t punish the students. Don\u2019t punish the students by going to school and not teaching the students,\u201d he said on NBC Radio.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cYou are hurting people who don\u2019t deserve to be hurt and you are doing so on a basis which is not rational. Please.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that his government has an obligation for the safety of the students and that obligation \u201cis high on the totem pole\u201d.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As teachers at a secondary school here protested government\u2019s vaccine mandate for the second day in less than a week, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced that his government will hire teachers, including retired educators, on short term contracts, to fill their place. He served notice during his weekly appearance on the state-owned NBC Radio, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nGonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As teachers at a secondary school here protested government\u2019s vaccine mandate for the second day in less than a week, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced that his government will hire teachers, including retired educators, on short term contracts, to fill their place. He served notice during his weekly appearance on the state-owned NBC Radio, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"888\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"593\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\",\"name\":\"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg\",\"width\":888,\"height\":593},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers","og_description":"As teachers at a secondary school here protested government\u2019s vaccine mandate for the second day in less than a week, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced that his government will hire teachers, including retired educators, on short term contracts, to fill their place. He served notice during his weekly appearance on the state-owned NBC Radio, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":888,"height":593,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers","datePublished":"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/"},"wordCount":289,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg","articleSection":["Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/","name":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-03T16:05:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:888\/h:593\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PM-Ralph-Gonsalves1.jpeg","width":888,"height":593},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/gonsalves-bringing-in-substitutes-for-protesting-teachers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gonsalves bringing in substitutes for protesting teachers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/126897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}