Teacher migration not primary worry – Crawford

Opposition Spokesman on Education Damion Crawford has criticised the Government’s handling of a spate of teacher resignations, especially as schools reopen for the first full-scale academic year roll-out in three years.

Calling it a misdiagnosis of the situation within the local education system, Crawford says the Government should have acted quickly to stave off the problem.

“If there was ever a year that we should have made sure (that) we are ready, it must be this year. If there was ever a time that every stone that should have been turned, was turned, it must be this year, because we are coming from a point where they are coming in two years behind,” he said.

Addressing the general meeting of the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights recently, Crawford reasoned that the narrow recruitment period for teachers would put students at a disadvantage, potentially causing a major fallout of approximately three months.

This, he said, would be especially troublesome for those who are scheduled to sit the Primary Exit Profile, the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) tests next year.

The education sector has been stymied by restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic since March 2020 and learning loss experienced among the student population.

The senator said that the primary issue within the education system is not that of teacher migration but how Government has addressed the lack of learning facilitators in the system, among other issues.

He said that it was the duty of the Government to put measures in place to make the nation a “greener pasture” for people looking for better opportunities to support themselves and their families.

UNDOUBTEDLY

This, he said, would undoubtedly help to prevent further migration, which could potentially have disastrous effects on the educational system.

“It is not that they want to leave but they analyse their circumstances and logic drives them to take advantage of some of what exists overseas. So, we (are) misdiagnosing the problem to say that we have the migration problem. Migration is contributing to the problem which is a lack of learning facilitators.”

The solution, he said, was for the Government to move quickly (especially) after learning in July that teachers were leaving.

“In the short term, we must then say, ‘Listen, we need to curb this migration by competing for more for those who are participating’ but there were also some very simple things that we could have done.”

He says the Government should have opted to pay teachers their lump sum so as to decrease the pressures on schools having to deal with last-minute resignations.

Additionally, the Government could have conducted early interviews and then issued a national call for applications, creating a recruitment pool from which different administrators could draw to fill openings, Crawford says.

“So, when we look at the wrong problem, we are going to find the wrong solution because the real problem is how are we going to get our children to be facilitated. And it is because we don’t have the understanding of that problem why we are saying (that) by October and by December everybody will have a teacher,” Crawford said.

He said further that it was contradictory for Jamaicans to “curse migration” but celebrate remittances as it was those who migrated from the country who are also returning to help develop Jamaica through infrastructure development and other sectors.

In a recent press briefing, Education Minister Fayval Williams announced that the number of resignations in public schools had increased nearly 50 per cent from the figure of 167, which had been reported on August 22, to stand at 248 individuals.

The issue of teachers leaving the system, most reportedly migrating for better opportunities overseas, has drawn a considerable amount of public attention and criticism from school administrators and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association.

The Ministry of Education and Youth has also come under fire for its handling of the situation.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com