While most stakeholder groups are clamouring for fines to be lowered, or varied, for the offence of teaching without a licence, the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPAJ) has proposed that half a million dollars is too low to serve as a deterrent and should instead be raised to at least $2.5 million.

In its submission on Wednesday to the joint select committee of Parliament which is deliberating on the proposed Jamaica Teaching Council Act, the country’s governing body for PTAs islandwide pointed out that in other jurisdictions, anyone convicted of teaching without a licence faces a range of penalties.

“In other jurisdictions a licence to practise an occupation is required. The term practising means performing services for someone else. Licensing of certain professions serves to protect the public by ensuring that those engaged in these occupations can provide the intended service,” the NPAJ executive argued.

“For example, doctors treat people for illnesses and injuries, and if they do not have the proper training, education, and expertise, they could cause their patients harm. When you practise a profession, you hold yourself out as having this expertise. So, we believe this is a fair call, especially for a profession that teaches all the other professions,” the NPAJ said.

The association also said it supports criminal background checks, as necessary, for anyone wishing to become an educator.

Like the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and the Teachers Colleges of Jamaica, the NPAJ said it was concerned about the definition of teacher in the Bill, which it surmises will remove about 2,000 teachers from the education system.

Furthermore, it is worried that if teachers are occupied trying to get qualified to stay in the profession, they will not have sufficient time to dedicate to the PTA and other extracurricular activities.

“We may be short-changing our teachers and students,” the association argued.

At the same time, the NPAJ is urging that specific provisions be made for educators who will be affected, to upgrade themselves. “What matters is whether they will be given the time and funding to meet the qualifying requirements in three to five years, so we do not see an exodus of our best teachers from the classroom. Some of our best teachers, parents will tell you, are the ones who give of themselves, love our children, but are not qualified based on this new definition,” the association pointed out.

It is also suggesting that the Government should offer teachers ample opportunities and protection to enable them to achieve the requisite qualifications within their subject area of specialisation, pointing to examples of teachers who are qualified in one subject for which they can teach at a secondary grade level, but who go on to upgrade in another area but on receiving their credentials are still teaching their “primary subject” at a higher-grade level.