Letter of the Day | The plight and flight of teachers

THE EDITOR, Madam:

This academic year, schools have struggled with the vexed issue of teacher migration, with some schools having teaching positions that have remained vacant from September 2023. My school lost one-fifth of its teachers to migration before the start of the school year, and at least one teacher monthly since then.

Please allow me to share a few of these teachers’ stories. The stories are factual, though names have been changed to protect privacy.

Mr Williams was an outstanding senior teacher, his creative and effective teaching made him invaluable. He and his wife, another outstanding teacher at another school, migrated to teach in the UK. Mr Williams and his wife loved his job and his island home. They left Jamaica because their young son was receiving a deficient education and their salaries did not allow them to access better for him. This was untenable. Mr Williams made contact a few months after migrating, he was not happy. His creativity was being stifled and he missed Jamaica and the classroom. He said that he was forced to make the choice to either be happy, or to educate his child well. He chose the latter and did not regret that choice.

Ms Peterson, a single mother of a young child, migrated to teach in Florida. She explained, in tears, that she never expected to be rich as a teacher. Before leaving, she lamented her decision to migrate, saying that she knew that it would be bad for Jamaica’s future when teachers leave en masse. She, like Mr Williams, was unable to fund the quality of education that she desired for her son. She said that she had waited to see what the revised salary package for teachers would be in 2023. She was disappointed with the value of the increase given, but the final straw, she said, was the subsequent sizeable increase in government salaries.

Finally, Mrs Smith, another invaluable senior teacher, visited the principal’s office in March to advise that she had a firm offer to teach in the UK for September 2024. Her accommodation was ready and waiting, and her family of four would be welcomed and accommodated. Mrs Smith though decided not to take up the attractive offer, because she is living in a family home rent-free, her two children are in good schools, she has a car and loves her job. Relocating would not be financially beneficial for her.

The story is the same for many of our teachers who have left our shores for not-such-greener pastures.

What are the take-aways from these three examples?

– Not all teachers are anxious to leave Jamaica to teach abroad.

– By remunerating teachers better in order to allow them to provide for their families, some will opt to continue to stay.

We anticipate that the migration of teachers, which has continued throughout this school year, will increase for the coming academic year, with detrimental effect on teaching and learning. I call on the Government to improve the remuneration of teachers as one strategy to address the plight resulting from low salaries, with the hope of reducing their flight from our classrooms.

MARGARET CAMPBELL

Principal, St George’s College