JTC bill poses qualification, job concerns for early childhood educators

GOVERNMENT LAWMAKER and attorney-at-law Ransford Braham, KC, is cautioning against a possible fallout in the early childhood education sector when the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) bill is passed and implemented. His concern is that there could be an immediate requirement for some teachers in those institutions to obtain higher levels of qualification to remain on the job.

Braham discussed the likely impact on the early childhood sector if teachers at that level would be required to have a first degree, which is a requirement under the proposed Jamaica Teaching Council law to obtain a licence to teach.

During deliberation on the bill, some stakeholders who made submission to the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Jamaica Teaching Council legislation, observed that the definition of teacher excludes most teachers at the early childhood level because those teachers are trained to the vocational level.

In discussing the draft report yesterday in Gordon House, lawmakers noted that the stakeholders who made submissions earlier had indicated that there was an apparent conflict between the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill and the Early Childhood Commission Act.

The stakeholders highlighted that the Early Childhood Commission Act empowers the Early Childhood Commission to prescribe qualifications of teachers at that level. According to the stakeholders, this raised the question of whether the Jamaica Teaching Council bill would take precedence over the Early Childhood Commission Act when enacted.

The committee acknowledged the stakeholders’ concerns and noted that in the context of the transformation of the early childhood education system, the Early Childhood Commission Act may need to be amended. The committee recommended that appropriate amendments be made to the Early Childhood Commission law.

Braham expressed concern that after the passage of the Jamaica Teaching Council bill many persons who teach in the early childhood sector without the requisite qualifications would be in breach of the law.

Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Teaching Council, Dr Winsome Gordon, said that a Level 3 qualification from HEART NSTA Trust allows persons to teach at the early childhood level, and as such, the promulgation of the Jamaica Teaching Council bill should not prevent them from teaching.

However, Braham said that there are teachers at the early childhood level who do not have the HEART NSTA or NCTVET qualifications to teach.

He said there would have to be a mass enrolment programme in HEART to ensure that the teachers without proper qualifications in the early childhood sector satisfy the minimum requirements for teaching.

“The Government may well have to consider the facilitating of these people, getting them into the programme,” he said.

Gordon, however, emphasised that it was critical that early childhood educators are qualified to teach.

Legal officer for the Ministry of Education Anastasia Gordon-Jones told the committee that teachers in the early childhood sector who are not qualified to the standard of the Jamaica Teaching Council bill can receive authorisation to teach from the council for two years. During that period, she said the teachers could work on their qualification to receive a licence to teach.

The joint select committee is advanced in completing its deliberations, which started in 2022.

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