MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has once again spoken out against the ongoing public sector compensation review which, it claims, will not improve the spending power of the nation’s public sector educators.

“We do not see where the compensation review is making our teachers better off because we have to factor this against the current rate of inflation, which is in double digits. … We have been waiting on this review and we are looking for significant movement as far as the teachers are concerned, and certainly in terms of the salary packages. And so, that discussion will continue,” said Jasford Gabriel, immediate past president of the JTA.

Gabriel was addressing the JTA St James Parish Association annual general meeting held at St Johns Methodist Church Hall in Montego Bay last Friday.

In February, following the settlement of the outstanding 2021/2022 pay issues with the Government’s employees, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke said his focus is on the implementation of the compensation restructure in the new fiscal year.

The review is intended to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments paid to public sector workers, and to make it more equitable.

The last time teachers’ pay was brought in line with 80 per cent of market rates was in 2008.

According to principal of Muschett High School, Leighton Johnson, who is a candidate in the upcoming JTA presidential election, with inflation eroding teachers’ spending power over the last 14 years, many have resorted to engaging in “side hustling”.

“Many teachers have to do other things. Many teachers have to be monetising their talent and their gifts just to make ends meet. But we are saying to the Government, ‘Listen, we will accept nothing less than being brought back to 80 per cent of market,’ “ stated Johnson.

“Colleagues, as a united group, we must start that revolution if they do not intend to take us back to 80 per cent of market,” he urged.

This year’s presidential election will be held between June 20 and 24. If elected, Johnson will be the president-elect who will serve during the 2023-3024 administrative year.

The current president-elect, La Sonja Harrison, who is principal of St Faith’s Primary School, will be installed as JTA president during the 58th annual conference in August. The conference, which was held at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny last year, will return to the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in St James this year.

At Friday’s meeting Gabriel expressed concern about anomalies between some of the salary scales.

“We’re seeing some instances where it’s possible… that someone who is being supervised is getting a higher pay than the person who is supervising him or her, so it’s a lot more work and adjustments [that is needed], and so the team is committed to doing all the work as far as that is concerned. There are inequities in the salary scales,” he stated.

“There’s also a concern that it (compensation review) speaks about payment by performance. And so we want full details as to how this is supposed to operate. What does it mean, given the inequities that exist in our system? Given that some students, by virtue of where they are placed, already have a competitive advantage in terms of being ahead of the game with their performances? We also know that in many instances the teachers who teach in schools that have the low-performing students are actually working harder, putting in much more effort than teachers who work in some of the more high-profile schools. And so, we have to be clear in terms of what it is we are talking about if we’re going on the route of payment by performance and how exactly this is going to affect our teachers — because we certainly will have none of it if it is that it is going to lead down in terms of the negative remuneration and profile of our teachers,” Smith added.

Also during the meeting, Johnson said the four per cent increase in wages and allowances for the contract period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, which was accepted by the JTA in February, is untenable and should not have happened.

“Colleagues, that four per cent is a slap in the face of every well-thinking teacher. That is a disgrace, it should not have happened. That is water under the bridge now,” he said.

Johnson is also calling for teachers to resist the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill, which he claimed will turn educators into criminals if passed, a view that the Government has stoutly rejected in the past.

“If you are practising without a licence a judge can determine to charges you up to $500,000 and you get a criminal record. That is untenable and we cannot sit by and allow that to happen,” stated Johnson.

“We cannot sit by and allow them to make criminals out of teachers,” he added.

The Bill will provide for the licensing and registration of all Government-paid teachers and will establish and maintain professional standards for teacher competence and practice; and regulate the professional conduct of teachers to ensure that they are fit and proper persons to teach.

It also speaks to the qualifications of a registered teacher. A practitioner must either be admitted to a recognised educational teaching programme or have completed a bachelor’s degree in education, or its equivalent, or possess a first degree with a postgraduate diploma in education.