TRELAWNY, Jamaica – Education Minister Fayval Williams has sought to assure the nation’s educators that the Jamaica Teachers Council (JTC) Bill is not designed to criminalise teachers.

Williams was responding to concerns raised by the newly-installed president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Dr Mark Smith, at the recent JTA teachers’ conference in Trelawny.

Williams reasoned that the aim of the Bill is for the registration of teachers in a similar vein to other professions.

“No Mr President, current and past. No JTA, we’re not trying to criminalise teachers. We’re just not! We are moving to ensure that our teachers are registered. You look at other professions: lawyers are registered, nurses are registered, contractors are registered,” she stressed.

Speaking shortly after his installment at the recent JTA conference in Trelawny, Smith noted that while the association is not opposed to the concept of professionalising teaching, the teachers’ union is guarded against exposing the membership to “victimisation in any form or manifestation.”

“Furthermore, we are concerned that the Bill does not unjustifiably expose any of our members to unnecessary punitive measures. For instance, several of my predecessors and I are troubled regarding the thrust towards criminalising certain breaches and will continue to advocate for a rethinking of those aspects of said Bill,” Smith argued.

Meanwhile, the education minister underscored that the JTC Bill is also seeking to address the perception that anybody can teach.

“There’s currently in the minds of many Jamaicans, they think anyone can teach. But I say to you, once we get into that environment in which teachers are registered and you are known as a registered teacher that is going to change that perception. No longer will Jamaicans believe that anybody can teach.  A registered teacher sends a very strong signal to the rest of the society,” Williams stated.