Dear Editor,

As an early childhood teacher, I am compelled to respond to an article that was published in the Jamaica Observer of November 20, 2012, “Early Childhood Commission laments lack of trained teachers”. It irks me whenever there are talks about a dearth of trained teachers within the early childhood sector.

I will readily concede that instead of having one school with three trained teachers, while another has none, it is better to have at least one per school. Notwithstanding, instead of all the occasional talks about the lack of teachers, what the Early Childhood Commission needs to do is amend the “rule” of one trained teacher per school.

As an unemployed teacher with a diploma in early childhood education, it leaves me, along with other holders of similar qualification(s), no option but to seek jobs at the primary level or within the private sector. It is even harder to find a job within the areas mentioned as employers prefer qualifications directly related to the areas one is seeking employment.

Trained early childhood teachers have invested a lot of their time and money in an area that doesn’t guarantee a placement or a paycheque that reflects their qualification. I have mentioned the latter because if we are lucky to receive a job at a basic school that already has a trained teacher, we are not going to be paid based on our qualification(s). It then leaves me to ask the question: Why get trained if I am going to receive the same payment as a pre-trained teacher? For me, it is not about the money, as teachers do not receive much, and I do not intend to further my studies in the teaching field, as a career in law is my ideal dream. Nevertheless, I am deeply passionate about early childhood education.

This letter is not to place blame on the Early Childhood Commission as I definitely think that they are doing their best, but a lot of help is needed where resources are concerned. There should be a concerted effort among various stakeholders in the education system, as it is the foundation upon which all other levels of the education system rest. If teachers are not meticulous in how they inculcate intellectual skills in a child’s formative years, the other areas of the education system are bound to fail.

This is where the government must play a major role. They should allocate more funds within the basic schools so that more trained teachers can be employed. I am sure the $60 million used by the government to buy SUVs for ministers would have been better spent employing more trained teachers. I am also sure that none of them has to take six vehicles to and from work as I did during the three months when I was employed at a prep school in Kingston – which happens to be the only job I have had since I left college more than a year ago.

There are many other teachers who do not own a vehicle, but who have to show up for work without a fuss. I know many of them, including me, would love to own a Mercedes Benz, but that’s not where our priority lies.

I am sure DRB Grant, early childhood pioneer and father of early childhood education, did not develop various programmes to train teachers for them to stay at home.

Sobrena D Anderson

Prospect, St Thomas

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