AS the new school year got under way on Monday, Mark Malabver, principal of Yallahs High School in St Thomas, accused the Ministry of Education of being “tone deaf” to the issue of teacher shortage currently facing Jamaica.

Malabver, who is the president-elect of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, told the Jamaica Observer that the issue is being downplayed by Government and warned that trouble is imminent.

According to Malabver, Yallahs High is short of at least six teachers, which means that some of the staff will have to double up their teaching efforts, as well as the school may have to drop some of the courses it offers to the students.

“I think the Ministry of Education is tone deaf to what is happening on the ground in terms of teacher shortage. They are certainly burying their heads in the sand and seeking to downplay the issue of teacher shortage in the system. It is having a debilitating effect on principals and their ability to effectively run their school operations,” said Malabver.

He charged that the ministry needs to take a more proactive approach in treating with the issue of teacher migration and shortage.

Malabver told the Observer that the staff at Yallahs High is resilient and will see how best they can make things work despite the issues.

“Our teachers are aware of what the challenges are and I am sure they will step up to the plate. I am however mindful that if the shortage is sustained, it will have significant impact on our teachers in terms of burnout. Invariably, we will have to redeploy teachers and add additional sessions to their timetables.

“That overtime, is going to lead to burnout and teacher absenteeism, especially further down in the year when teachers are just tired. I am also mindful of these things and that is why I am seeking to fill the vacancies as soon as possible. We are taking a look at our timetable in terms of how many more sessions we will be able to add to other teachers’ timetable said Malabver.

“There are some hard-nose decisions that we may have to make with respect to, for example, metal work. We may have to move from curriculum offerings this term in certain subject areas if we are just unable to fill the vacancies. For example, if we are unable to recruit a teacher for metal work, we are going to have to take it off the timetable and that is the reality we have to contend with. Technical-vocational education and training teachers are in very short supply,” Malabver said.

At Yallahs High, teacher shortage is being experienced in the areas of science, literacy and physical education. The institution is also in need of a guidance counsellor.

“We hope to fill those vacancies as soon as possible. In the last few years, we have never really started off school with our full complement but this year it is at a critical level so we are pushing to see how best we can treat with those things,” the principal said.

Teacher shortage is not the only problem facing the school. Malabver told the Observer that the institution is short of desks and chairs.

“We were short of 300 desks and chairs but funds that the ministry has sent covers about 100 which we already procured. I am short now of 200. That is going to be a major challenge next week. That is against the backdrop that we have seen increased numbers of students who are coming into the school. A number of students have sought transfers into the school, particularly at grade seven. We had over 80 applications for transfers. We have taken in close to 50,” said Malabver.

He that a number of children have been showing increasing interest in wanting to become students of Yallahs High.

The current student population at the school currently sit at around 800, according to Malabver.

He mentioned as a positive, the fact that the entire block C at the school, which was decommissioned as a result of damage caused by an earthquake last year, is now back into commission.

At the same time, he bemoaned that the resources provided by the Ministry of Education is woefully inadequate and that the school is in a constant state of deficit.

“As such, we are not able to run a very effective maintenance programme in terms of maintaining the place in the way we want to maintain it. That is also impacting on the teaching and learning exercise and the school’s ability to find resources to purchase various things for teaching and learning,” said Malabver.