PARAMARIBO – Pupils who live in the hinterland still can’t go to school. “This is awful. Our pupils still can’t attend classes because we still haven’t been transported to our workstations in the hinterland,”  several teachers who work in the hinterland told Times of Suriname. The teachers disapproved of the fact that the education sector in the hinterland is being neglected while the schools in the other districts opened their doors on October 1st. The teachers were told that they would leave on Sunday but they could not be transported because the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture still has to pay the bus drivers and the boat owners.

  “The children in the hinterland have already fallen behind and the education gap is only getting bigger because the gap which popped up during the COVID-19 pandemic still has not been closed,” said a concerned teacher. The teachers hope that they can leave this weekend so that they can start next Monday. Antonius Pokie, chairman of the Organization of Bus and Boat Owners in Suriname, disapproved of the fact that the director of education recently told the press that the schools that are located in the hinterland are also up and running. 

 Pokie made it clear that “that is a lie.” He deemed it unacceptable that education officials are giving false information to the nation. The teachers who are stationed in the hinterland are currently still in Paramaribo. “The teachers will be transported after the bus drivers and boat owners have received payment,” said the chairman. Legislators on Thursday criticized the government for failing to address the issue…[+]