Mixed reactions to call for retired teachers to return to school
Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2022 | 12:10 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
While some retired teachers are willing to return to the classroom to fill the void created by migrating educators, others have decided to ignore the call.
According to Ceila Grant-Francis, president of the Jamaica Retired Teachers Association, responses from her members have been “‘lukewarm”.
“There are persons among our members who are willing to respond to the call,” said Grant-Francis, regarding the invitation extended to fill some of the at least 600 vacancies faced by school boards in the lead-up to next week’s start of the new academic year.
Education Minister Fayval Williams has given the all clear for school boards and principals to engage the services of retired teachers who have left the classroom since 2018.
The approval will allow for locum tenens, i.e., teachers being their own replacement. There are 1,877 teacher who applied for and received vacation leave, retirement or study leave.
These teachers, who will be hired in their areas of specialisation, will be taken on a contractual basis at a rate of remuneration to be determined by the position to be filled and not on their qualification.
“The nation’s children need teachers to help to build on their educational growth and if there are retired teachers who are willing to work, then why not utilise their skills?” asked Grant-Francis, in supporting the call for the hiring of retired teachers.
The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), the Caribbean’s largest teacher trade union, has reported that come September 5, the education sector in Jamaica could face a serious staff shortage.
Based on data gleaned from 140 schools across the island, the JTA has reported that 13 per cent of those teachers who will not return in September are retired, 43 per cent are resigning, and 44 per cent are on approved leave.
Patrick Smith, a trustee of the JTA, has welcomed the ministry’s decision to engage retired teachers, especially at the high-school level.
“We don’t have any objection to the retaining or rehiring of retired teachers on a part-time basis with the requisite skills and who have the capability,” said Smith, while noting that persons who left the classroom over five years ago might have a challenge to readjust.
Smith believes that some of the retired teachers who are reluctant to return to the classroom might have been turned off by alarming levels of school violence, videos of which were highlighted on social media.
“There are those who can cope and there are those who absolutely will not be able to because they have determined within themselves that they have left it and they are not returning,” said Smith.
“Quite a few of our retired teachers have families overseas and would rather be with their grandchildren than remain here, and this is an issue that we have to bear in mind.”