By Stabroek News

Copyright stabroeknews

(Trinidad Express) For more than a decade, teachers in Trinidad and Tobago have complained of bureaucratic delays within the Ministry of Education, in some cases limiting their upward movement within the teaching service. Few had the courage to challenge the system in court. But Nirma-la Sesnarayan did.

Sesnarayan was, two weeks ago, awarded $800,000 in damages, the High Court finding that her constitutional rights had been violated when she was unfairly denied promotion to Teacher III despite holding the same qualifications as colleagues who advanced.

The court noted that the claimant endured five years of delay, constantly checking on the status of her application, resubmitting transcripts, and even being given false hope in 2015 when she was mistakenly told she would assume duty as a teacher III.

Justice Quinlan–Williams observed that Sesnarayan’s colleagues had advanced in their careers while she was left behind, forced to endure repeated disappointments and unnecessary hurdles.

As the judgment was delivered on September 12, Sesnarayan told the Express that she smiled when merit was found in her claim.

“For years, I was fighting to prove to the MoE (Ministry of Education), even my colleagues, that I was being treated unfairly. So many times, I’ve heard, you won’t get anything, it will never work out, you will never get the Teacher III position, I was screaming inside. I kept this matter very quiet from most, because I didn’t need the negativity. I knew I had to keep it sacred in order for justice to be served.”

“Finally, when the judgement was rendered, I felt like someone understood and it was the legal system. So much faith has been lost in our judicial systems, but that moment showed me that all is not lost,” she said.

When Sesnarayan filed her case, the Express was told, it was agreed that similar lawsuits filed by other teachers would be stayed, while the matter was used as the test case. Now that she has won, the other teachers, at least seven, are in line to be compensated.

Sesnarayan said that she had taken on the battle not for herself but also for her colleagues, who from 2006 to 2010 were treated as “guinea pigs”.

“They threatened our jobs if we didn’t comply and only for a lot of us to suffer miserably!? No! I needed to do this for all of us,” she said.

Sesnarayan’s case centred on stalled promotion between 2010 and 2019 despite obtaining a teaching degree and receiving assurances from senior ministry offi-cials that the degree would replace the Diploma in Education as the required qualification for appointment and promotion to Teacher III.

Sesnarayan, however, discovered years later that her application for reassessment would not be accepted without additional credits. Meanwhile, others with the same degree were elevated to Teacher III without any such requirement.

She told the Express via WhatsApp yesterday that the Ministry of Education claimed it did not receive transcripts though her email records showed differently. At that time, she said, she was trying to keep the faith after being upgraded from an Assistant Teacher Primary to Teacher 1 in 2016.

However, in 2019 after being told that she would not be assessed to be a Teacher III and that she would again have to return to school, she says she felt defeated.

“I was living in Princes Town and working in Curepe. I could not get transferred because principals would not take my Teacher 1 assessment, even though I was a good teacher. They needed T3 positions to be filled. Therefore, I was stuck with the long commute and huge gas bill.”

“I applied for my Post Grad DipEd in 2018 or 2019, and I was denied a space because I was not assessed as a T3. Therefore, promotion could never be considered because I had to be of that rank to move forward. At that time, I had 15 years of service, and people with just as much or slightly more service were becoming Deans and Heads of Department. I could not move, I was stuck. Even with a master’s degree, it counted for nothing,” she said.

Mental toll

In the years she spent in this position, Sesnarayan said she was financially affected, using a deteriorating vehicle and unable to secure even a meagre loan from financial institutions as a result of her salary.

She used her “singing” talent, she said, to supplement her salary in the times she could not make ends meet.

Having graduated from UTT shortly before her father was brutally murdered in a robbery in 2010, she bore some responsibility for her family and used her vacation time to work and do private tutoring.

“There were days I just had $40 in my bank account with a week or more to go before my next salary came. Imagine in 2025, some of my colleagues still suffer from this,” she said.

The feeling of being treated unfairly, she added, had afflicted her with anxiety and depression.

“My anxiety and insomnia developed because I was always on my own, trying to hold the world on my shoulders, not show the pain or frustration to my students, friends or family. I am very ambitious and progressive. I love to keep moving, it fuels me.

“Being stuck and constantly having to ensure that bills were paid was a daunting experience. I was always calculating figures. Even saying this to you, I cannot even believe I survived all of this. I have colleagues in the system currently who have families—spouses and kids—at least I was single, but imagine men who have to provide and feel inadequate because they cannot care for their children in the way they want to? It’s ridiculous!” she said.

On the judgment, Sesnarayan said though she was grateful, she did not believe that the money awarded by the court made up for the way she was treated.

“I am truly grateful, don’t get me wrong! Could it have been easier if I was treated fairly from the beginning? Of course! However, I cannot change the past. I can only learn from it. It taught me the power of sacrifice, living in the moment and the power of faith and determination,” she said.

The struggle, she added, pushed her to pursue a master’s degree in Public Sector Management from The University of the West Indies.

But many teachers, she said, were facing similar struggles, feeling defeated, struck and unheard. To them, she said, it was important to stand up, stay focused, and be brave.

“They will try to deter you, but you must stand up for yourselves. You mould society yet they treat you like nothing. Get what is yours. You teach the nation’s children every single day with grace and dedication. What you fight for rightfully belongs to you! Fight for it! Get it! Yes, it’s a noble profession but be wise.

“This fight was necessary. I don’t regret it. It was long and still has some way to go. People attack teachers but we are the gatekeepers of society. Teachers and educators as a whole must be recognised for their contributions to society. Don’t paint us all with the same brush. We suffer but we do our jobs,” she said.

Sesnarayan by Freedom Law Chambers, through attorneys Anand Ramlogan, SC; Jayanti Lutchmedial; and Kent Samlal, instructed by Ganesh Saroop and Natasha Bisram.