MOUNTAIN SPRING, Trelawny — Education Minister Fayval Williams has made it clear there is no intention to flood the public schools with foreign teachers, as she sought to reassure Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) and other stakeholders in light of Government’s plan to recruit overseas teachers to fill vacancies for the 2024/25 academic year.

Williams, who addressing Wednesday’s final day of the JTA’s annual conference at Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny, said however that the practice of recruiting foreign teachers preceded her tenure as minister of education.

“Ladies and gentlemen, over many, many decades we have had teachers from other countries in our classrooms. Many of us sitting here can recall teachers who taught us English and other subjects coming from other countries. In my own high school that I went to, my English language and English literature teacher was from the UK; physics teacher from some place else; chemistry teacher is from some place else; and Spanish teacher is from some place else — so it’s not as if we’re going to be inundating the sector,” Williams said.

She said that, at present, there are 90 foreign teachers assigned to public schools, with 75 of them from Cuba. The Cuban teachers, said the minister, teach Spanish and other subjects as well.

“When we look at the new teachers coming into the system, we went around, we spoke to principals, we talked about the option, and they expressed an interest in having them, ” said the education minister.

The minister, at the same time, expressed disappointment over the low take-up of scholarships made available for new teachers, which she listed among the different things the Government has been doing to retain teachers with expertise in STEM and other skill areas.

“I can tell you, the minister of finance and public service offered Mico University College scholarships for teachers who want to go into the STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics STEM] areas, and there was not a flood of persons descending on Mico,” said Williams. She said, however, that even though full tuition would be paid for these persons, they wouldn’t be ready to come into the system just yet.

“So, we are doing different things to ensure that we have the expertise that’s needed in maths and science and some of those other areas,” she added.

The education minister said the ministry is mindful that teacher migration has been an international occurrence but every effort is being made to retain STEM teachers for the nation’s schools.

“We know that teachers make personal decisions about their lives. Going abroad to teach has been a phenomenon for a very long time. We’re faced with a global situation; there’s no country on earth that’s immune. Teachers are moving around, and we have to really ensure that with Jamaica we have the skill sets — [especially] in those areas like in math and science — to help our children,” she remarked.

On the first day of the conference, past president of JTA, Dr Garth Anderson moved a resolution urging the Ministry of Education and Youth to outline its retention strategies for local teachers and provide a detailed plan that goes beyond merely recruiting foreign educators by the end of November 2024. Immediate JTA Past President Leighton Johnson had recently expressed concern over the ministry’s decision to recruit overseas educators, noting that while the decision is a measure to mitigate the current teacher shortage across the country, it highlights a significant issue that requires urgent attention and collaborative action.

Williams has invited Johnson and the newly installed JTA President Dr Mark Smith to the table to discuss the issue.

“We are open to listening, to advocating for whatever ideas they will put on the table,” Williams said. “Let us talk at the earliest, Mr President, to see how together we can address this problem that we have. We’d love all of our teachers to be here to continue to do the work in this country,” she added.