Dear Editor,

Last week, my child, who is currently taking her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, lost two days of learning because the teachers’ union called a strike.

Jamaicans are under the illusion that the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) is a body concerned with the development of the education system. After last week’s strike, I am sure that our eyes are wide open to the fact that the JTA is nothing more than a union, looking out wholly and solely for the interests of teachers.

Like most Jamaicans, I was shocked to learn, based on reports, that the JTA went on industrial action because of salary anomalies affecting 10 teachers, the details of which were sent to the Ministry of Education 10 days before, and it is claimed a response was not received.

A few weeks ago, my son, who attends a prominent boys’ school in St Andrew, came home complaining that he has been missing classes because of teacher absence and the principal has done nothing about it. I confronted the principal and he told me, point blank, teachers are doing their side hustles to survive. My husband is a policeman, and he has signed up as a driver on one of Jamaica’s mobile taxi applications. I have never seen my husband not go to work because of his side hustle.

While I will always be sympathetic to teachers, something is seriously wrong with the JTA and the teaching profession generally, and it is our children who pay the price for unbecoming conduct by the teachers’ union.

The leadership of the JTA, particularly the president, La Sonja Harrison, leaves much to be desired. I hope the Ministry of Education deducts the absent days from the salaries of those teachers who participated in the strike. As a parent, I hope the Parliament passes the new teachers’ legislation to regulate the teaching profession. This is urgently needed to restore standards, ethics, and discipline to the profession.

At my daughter’s school, the principal did not support the strike and encouraged the teachers to turn up to work, while at my son’s school, the principal, a former JTA president, actively mobilised the strike by sending a strike notice to teachers.

While principals start out as teachers, in their current role they are primarily school managers. They have a duty to their employers and the Government of Jamaica to keep the school plant operational and carry out government policy. I would support the Government passing laws to separately classify teachers and principals. This would mean principals would no longer be president of the JTA. I believe this would lift the standard of education leadership greatly. Principals leading strike action is a conflict of roles, which erodes their moral authority.

It is obvious that the JTA has used the public discord over politicians’ salary increases to reopen their salary dispute with the Government. As a parent, I believe that accountability in teaching is just as needed as our politicians being held to account. As far as I can see, the JTA is against accountability for teachers, and this last strike action was unnecessary and seems to have undertones of political motivation.

In all the mumbling of the teachers, they have omitted to say that they account for the largest share of the Government’s wage bill, that the classroom teachers’ pay has almost doubled in some instances. With the increases they have had, it is now time to demand greater productivity from our teachers. Of course, you will never hear the JTA say anything in support of this.

Brian Nunes

briannunes712@yahoo.com