President-elect in waiting for the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), LaSonja Harrison, has declared that she will be partnering with the private and public sector in an effort to improve the island’s education system.

Harrison, who was declared president-elect designate following a race involving five candidates last week, yesterday told the Jamaica Observer that she intends to empower teachers by lobbying the Government to provide “the kind of resources that we are in need of in order for us to carry out our duties effectively”.

She added: “I will be partnering and lobbying the corporate sector and private sector in order for us to move forward as a nation, because it must be done together.”

Harrison, who is the principal of St Faith’s Primary School in St Catherine, will be officially proclaimed as the president-elect at the JTA’s 57th Annual Conference scheduled for August 16 to 18. She will then serve on the board for a year, after which her tenure as president will commence in the year 2022-2023.

According to Harrison, she will work to ensure there is adequate infrastructure, finances, an education system serviced by professionals who are much better paid, and teachers given the tools they need to perform their duties adequately.

Current President of the JTA Jashford Gabriel extended his congratulations to Harrison by saying, “Mine is the pleasure of extending heartfelt congratulations to Mrs LaSonja Harrison, president-elect designate for 2021/22.”

He also sent well wishes to the other candidates for their participation in what he described as “a hard-fought, well-contested election”.

“We learnt a lot of new things since we transitioned into this new modality, and I thought there was very good camaraderie between the candidates. I’m sure that, on the ground, a lot of work went into the process to pull out as many votes as possible. I believe we have learnt a lot over the last two election periods so that we should be able to move forward as a strong force,” added Gabriel.

A total of 7,947 votes were cast in the election, which was held using two modalities – online and face to face.

When the votes were counted, Harrison emerged the winner with 3,724 members of the JTA giving her the nod. Leighton Johnson finished second with 1,343 votes, while Eaton McNamee received 1,319 votes, Timrod Shaw got 721 votes, and Anthony Kennedy with 474 votes accounted for the rest.