THE Ministry of Education and Youth has set August 2009 as the deadline for teachers to register with the Teachers’ Service Commission in order to access the benefits that will accrue.

Chairman of the commission, Bishop Howard Gregory, on Wednesday encouraged the teachers to register within the stipulated time frame, as only then they would be able to benefit.

“There are several benefits,” Bishop Gregory disclosed during a JIS Think Tank session.

“First of all, one has to be registered to be eligible for employment in public educational institutions, in order to be eligible for permanent appointment, promotional opportunities, access to study leave, access to motor vehicle loans and eligibility for pension,” he outlined.

According to Gregory, the registration process was simply not a policy direction being taken by the ministry, but is a requirement of the Education Amendment Act of 1980. The Act stipulates that, “a person shall not teach or be employed as a teacher in a public education institution unless he or she is registered as a trained teacher, pre-trained teacher or an authorised teacher.”

“Registration is not merely another administrative exercise, as it is intended to ensure that all teachers are registered based on the prescribed criteria, in order to ensure that they meet the required standards,” Bishop Gregory emphasised.

He said 10,500 teachers have registered with the Commission so far but there is need for the remaining number to submit their applications. More than 20,000 teachers are currently working in the public sector, which include infant, primary, secondary and college level teachers.

“The registration of teachers has been going on since (1980), but a significant number of teachers are not registered. We have been concerned as a Commission about this, and we have made several recommendations in terms of the process and how we abide by the law in terms of the requirements for persons to be registered,” he said.

“We [the Commission] are embarking on a new programme to get the teachers on stream, because all teachers will have to be registered,” Bishop Gregory emphasised.

Registration, he explained, was critical, as it was a precursor to the teacher licensing programme which will be implemented by the Education Transformation Team in the near future, in keeping with the 2015 deadline for the complete transformation of the education system.

“The Education Transformation Team has been considering things related to registration and the licensing of teachers and in fact, the registration process is a precursor to the licensing process that will come later,” he stated.

Noting the concerns of teachers who felt that they might be ‘booted’ from the system, Bishop Gregory gave assurance that once they met the criteria for registration, there was no need to fear.