Teaching Council bill review pushed back as March fully booked for committees
Published:Wednesday | February 16, 2022 | 12:10 AM
As the Government’s legislative agenda gets into high gear, a joint select committee on the Jamaica Teaching Council Act, 2022, has set an April date for its second meeting even as the month of March has already been booked for other committee deliberations.
On Tuesday, the joint select committee reviewing the Firearms Act, 2022, scheduled 11 days in March to hold deliberations.
The rush to secure dates for upcoming committee meetings exposed the limited resources of Parliament, with Hansard writers operating way below their established complement.
The Gleaner understands that at present, there are five Hansard writers, fewer than half of the 11 needed to record the contributions and debates of lawmakers during parliamentary or committee meetings.
Senator Kavan Gayle urged his fellow committee members on Tuesday to start identifying early dates for upcoming meetings as there were competing interests.
Chairman of the committee, Fayval Williams, told committee members that the next meeting was scheduled for April 6.
A deadline of March 27 has been set for stakeholders and other interested persons or organisations to make submissions on the bill.
The bill seeks to establish the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and define its functions; repeal the functions of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) relating to registration, discipline, and assessment of the qualifications of teachers; and repeal certain provisions of the Education Regulations of 1980.
The bill will also regulate the practice and professional conduct of teachers.
The proposed law sets out the functions of the JTC, which is to register and license teachers; grant authorisation to teach; investigate the fitness to teach of any person who is or who is seeking to be registered and licensed, among other things.
Section 24 of the proposed law states that a person shall not practise as a teacher unless the person is duly licensed or is an instructor.
A person who contravenes this provision and teaches without a licence commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction in a Parish Court, to a fine not exceeding $500,000.