LAWMAKERS are giving thought to whether the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) should be restricted to intervening only in matters having to do with regulation of the licensing for teachers and not probe matters which involve breaches of rules that are specific to institutions, which are usually handled by school boards.

There is also a suggestion that the JTC should have the authority to initiate a complaint against a teacher, and has a separate team of people to investigative complaints, in order to separate the investigative arm of its work, from its regulatory powers, so as not to influence hearings associated with those complaints.The parliamentary joint select committee set up to review the JTC Act (2022) is now carrying out a detailed examination of the recommendations made by various stakeholders over the past several months.

Government Senator Ransford Braham cautioned that there is a risk of some matters being protracted if left at the board level.

“It can be a problem in the sense that it could be oppressive. However, we have to be careful because if there is a school board inquiry, sometimes is an indefinite process. Probably the better way to deal with that is to give the council the power to stay their hand if it is appropriate. I certainly would not want to see a situation where the council is boxed out because there is something happening at the school board because the matter then would depend on the efficiency of that particular school board,” he cautioned.Under the current regulations, there is no prescription for continuation of a probe into a complaint if the school board does not dispose of the matter within nine months. The committee was advised that the regulations to the JTC Bill should address this gap.According to Braham, if the council is presented with specific evidence it should not be mandated to investigate every aspect of a complaint. “I think we also must make provision that [where] somebody makes a complaint, provides the information and the council immediately has a hearing, why should they be forced to investigate everything? They should have the power to investigate if necessary and where not necessary they have their hearing and make their decision. The staff should be given specific powers to investigate so that they don’t have to go outside, and at the same time preserving the powers of separation, because the council would then not be [involved] in the investigation.”

Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, meanwhile, said care should be taken to not obfuscate general disciplinary matters provided for in the Education Act, with the powers being given to the council to investigate matters related to the conditions of registration and licences.

Disciplinary matters, such as attendance, are still provided for under the regulations to the Education Act, and addressed at the school board level.The discussion surrounding possible “double jeopardy” of having teachers answer to two or more bodies for the same complaint, and ensuring that there is no interference by the JTC in disciplinary matters having to do with the rules of individual schools, arose from the JTA’s submission to the committee.Braham argued that if the Bill were to be amended to specify that the JTC is not authorised to intervene in those matters at the school level, the council could be denied the opportunity to intervene in cases related to teacher licensing, which overlap with contractual issues.

“I do not think that we should have any such limitation apart from what is there already allows the council to deal with disciplinary matters even if those matters end up to also be matters that could arise under contract,” the attorney insisted.He added that the council should also be able to initiate complaints. “That is a very useful authority because the council may receive information that the public doesn’t have, it would mean that they would have to go behind the scenes and ask [people] to make a complaint and I don’t think that is appropriate. At least members of the council should be entitled, when so directed, to raise a complaint either to the disciplinary committee, or the council,” Braham stated.

Under Section 51 of the JTC Bill, upon receiving a complaint against a teacher or instructor the council is — based on the particulars of the complaint — authorised to refer it to the education ministry, the school board or employer of the teacher for investigation. The ministry may also designate individuals to investigate complaint received from the council. However, these complaints are specific to Section 51 of the Bill, having to do with breaches of licence or authorisation to teach, non-compliance with the conditions of their registration, or breach of professional standards or any provision in the law.