Lawmakers weigh rights versus threats in taking action against teachers

Senator Lambert Brown on Wednesday urged his colleague lawmakers reviewing the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Act, 2022, to consider a provision that would take into account the accused teacher’s right of appeal before he is terminated or suspended by the JTC.

“I am saying it’s just fair that we include [that] no action [be taken] until the exhausting of the right to appeal,” he said during a meeting of the joint select committee.

Brown added that he wanted a similar provision that was in legislation governing the public service that “you do not act against the person” until the courts make a final decision.

“So once an appeal is pending, then you ought not to be acting against the person because the presumption of innocence remain and courts can be wrong and that wrong can be corrected,” said Brown, who is a trade unionist.

Committee chairperson Fayval Williams, who is also the education minister, questioned whether the teacher who allegedly commits an offence should remain in the classroom with students until the appeal process is complete years later.

She argued that there are disqualifying offences in the bill that are considered egregious and could harm students.

Disqualifying offence as set out in the legislation means an offence for which the penalty is a term of imprisonment of two years or more.

But Brown insisted that the rights of citizens should be protected, noting that a superior court may throw out a serious allegation brought against a teacher.

However, Floyd Green, another committee member, reasoned that the rights of teachers have to be balanced against the rights of students.

“We cannot try to balance the rights specifically in favour of the accused.”

He said that the accused would be reinstated if his appeal was successful.

In a related matter, the committee concluded that reports prepared by the JTC on alleged offences committed by teachers should not only be made available to those who are accused of wrongdoing but also to their employers.

The decision was subject to resistance from at least one committee member, who had concerns that “confidential” matters in the report could be revealed to the public.

Committee member Senator Natalie Campbell-Rodriques wanted to know if there was anything in the legislation that could preclude the board of the institution from sharing the report with the public.

JTC CEO Dr Winsome Gordon indicated that there is nothing to stop the school board or a private employer of the teacher from making public the contents of the report.

This led to heightened concern from Campbell-Rodriques, who said: “You could destroy somebody’s reputation on purpose and we must remember that in some areas and communities, the board is made up of people from a small community where the teacher is from.

“I am not very comfortable, but I’ll yield to the majority, but it makes me very uncomfortable,” Campbell-Rodriques stressed.

Social media concern

Gordon also had misgivings about the report landing in the hands of social media bloggers. She suggested that reports should have some kind of protection from social media.

During deliberations on Wednesday, the committee wrestled with the decision of whether to make such reports available to the board of the institutions.

Solicitor General Marlene Aldred indicated that the JTC reports would have been done through a public process and, as such, the contents should be made available to both the teacher and employer.

The solicitor general said that the employer would have sufficient interest to request and receive the report.

She also noted that if the report is requested through the Access to Information Act, it would have to be made available to the applicant.

Williams said that the report should be made available to the employer and a registered, licensed teacher or instructor who is the subject of a complaint.

Responding to concerns that the report could end up on social media, Green reminded lawmakers that the JTC report is not confidential, except for sensitive issues relating to minors.

“These things are not done in secret,” said Green. “We can’t cover the Council in a shroud of confidentiality.”

The bill will, among other things, repeal certain provisions of the Education Regulations of 1980 and also regulate the practice and professional conduct of teachers.

editorial@gleanerjm.com