New JTA president wants national campaign to retain teachers

WESTERN BUREAU:

Leighton Johnson, the newly appointed president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), wants the organisation to spearhead a campaign that will make the local teaching profession more attractive to draw in potential recruits and prevent educators from taking their skills overseas.

Johnson made the call on Monday night during his inaugural presidential address at the JTA’s 59th annual conference at the Royalton Negril Resorts and Spa in Westmoreland. The three-day conference is being held under the theme ‘Advancing the vision: Reigniting the passion through equitable and inclusive educational opportunities’.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we must improve our approach in marketing the teaching profession as an attractive and viable option to the youths of our nation. I suggest that we embark on a national campaign to fill our teachers’ colleges with creative and agile thinkers who have the ability to inspire this generation, [because] the teaching profession requires the best and brightest minds,” said Johnson.

“We have noted the policy extensions that have been made to assist in cushioning the impact of teacher migration. While we are grateful for those temporary solutions, we must shift our focus from teacher replacement to teacher retention, and this can be achieved only through an improved compensation package. This can only be achieved if we give our teachers what they truly deserve.”

As far back as 2016, the JTA had previously sought to put forward recommendations for how the Government could tackle the recurring issue of teacher migration. At that time, the JTA’s then-president, Howard Isaacs, said the organisation’s Education and Research Committee would seek to review the matter and put forward proposals to that effect.

The issue of teacher shortage in Jamaica has been a constant thorn in the side of the Ministry of Education as teachers leave the local profession, in some cases to take on higher-paying jobs overseas. Since January this year, 427 teachers have tendered their resignations, although Education Minister Fayval Williams recently described that number as a significant decline compared to the 1,538 educators who left over the similar period in 2022.

Johnson argued that the Caribbean, including Jamaica, has become a prime recruiting ground for European and Asian nations that are willing to pay agreeable wages to educators.

PRIMARY RECRUITING GROUND

“The Caribbean in general and Jamaica in particular are primary recruiting grounds. We are in the backyard of our North American counterparts, and opportunities are being created in European and Asian countries. These jurisdictions are more relaxed in their standards, have increased the compensation packages for teachers, and are now making allowances to accommodate the salaries of our teachers,” said Johnson.

“Without a doubt, we are losing our teacher specialists in many disciplines, as there is a chronic shortage of teachers in the technical fields. Some schools have been operating without teacher experts for far too long, over two years, and have now taken the decision to rationalise these disciplines,” Johnson added. “While it is understandable that a small developing state cannot match the salaries being created by those realms [jurisdictions], it is imperative that a deliberate and intentional attempt be made to adequately compensate our teachers so that we can retain the experienced and qualified ones.”

Meanwhile, the JTA’s immediate past President La Sonja Harrison noted that teacher resignations and migration will impact both the educators who remain in the profession and the children they are left to care for in their classes.

“Teachers are resigning, they have not gotten their fair due, but do we truly care? What will happen to the children of this beloved island, the class sizes, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those left behind to execute this awesome task of teaching? Teacher burnout is a real concern. The increase in the number of casual leave requests as reported by some principals should be reviewed, and the implications at hand are more than just finding a body to replace another,” said Harrison.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com