The general philosophy governing compensation, be it the public or private sector, is to base salary packages on qualification and experience of the employee, tempered, of course, by ability to pay.

If this approach is to be applied without exception, our teachers, nurses and police officers — whose importance cannot be questioned — will always fall within the lower tier of the compensation scale, and the best of them will therefore remain prime targets for overseas recruitment.

The merciless poaching from these categories of professionals by foreign recruiters is clear evidence that they are essential to the proper functioning of a country, and one is going to have to strive hard to produce an excess of them or compete fiercely to retain them.

Conventional wisdom says that Jamaica cannot compete seriously with rich countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom — the main markets which are magnets for our teachers, nurses and policemen.

What does Jamaica do in a situation like this? That is the billion-dollar question that our nation must wrestle with, because the one thing we cannot afford to do is to throw our hands up in the air and accept the status quo as inevitable.

There is no need to waste time disputing the essential nature of these professionals. After 60 years of Independence we find ourselves as a nation in dire straits where crime, public health facilities, and schools are concerned.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that, in their daily function, these workers are being asked to do way more than they are trained or compensated to do. They have, in common, the need to be guidance counsellors for dysfunctional clients unable to cope with the worsening burden of their lot in life.

We should listen to the compelling experience of new Jamaica Teachers’ Association President La Sonja Harrison who told last Thursday’s Jamaica Observer Press Club: “The school is a microcosm of the society, so it is a reflection of how far we have [been] denigrated as a society, how our moral compass has gone south, and it is reflective of the greatest challenge I think we have in this nation — our home, family life — broken families, creating broken people.

“…I wasn’t a guidance counsellor but the children confided in me and in just hearing some of their challenges; [I realised] life is hard [for them]. And so when they come to school, it’s an outlet for everything, so they just release frustration on each other, frustration on teacher, and just frustration, and that starts from… unfortunately, our younger children,” she said.

Nurses and police officers can relate to what the JTA head is saying. Indeed, she has said nothing that we didn’t know before. The trouble is that the problem continues unabated and the solutions stubbornly evade us.

It may be that as overworked as our professionals are, and despite their daily sacrifice under terrible conditions, Jamaica is not getting the best from them because of inadequate compensation — the thing that the rich countries use to lure them away.

It could take a referendum, but Jamaica might have to offer special compensation to those professionals, ignoring, if necessary, the expected clamour for parity among other professions, important as they might be.