THE long-promised Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill finally made its way through one of the Houses of Parliament on Friday with senators giving it the nod despite several amendments.

The Bill establishes the JTC as a statutory body; regulates entry, conduct, and professional development of teachers; maintains registers of teachers, role of instructors, enforces standards of teacher competence and ethics; and promotes teaching as a respected professional and accountable discipline aligned with Jamaica’s education transformation agenda.

The landmark legislation — which was piloted by Minister of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon — was passed with 38 amendments.

Making his contribution to the debate on the Bill, Government Senator Kavan Gayle, who was a member of the joint select committee which reviewed the proposed legislation, said it represents a decisive step towards modernising the governance framework of the teaching profession in Jamaica.

According to Gayle, the legislation acknowledges the realities of the country’s current education landscape, and introduces mechanisms to strengthen the standards, ensure accountability and uplift the profession.

“It is seeking to embrace the framework for registration, discipline, and assessment of qualifications. The Bill affirms the responsibility first assigned to the Teaching Services Commission under Section 32 of the Education Act, which is to deal generally with registration, discipline, and assessment of qualification of teachers.

“However, this legislation builds on expanding that mandate by providing a more structured and comprehensive system of professional oversight,” said Gayle as he noted that the Bill establishes a standard of entry into the teaching profession.

But in his contribution to the debate, Opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford argued that the Bill was too punitive to teachers.

Crawford further argued that some provisions, including the section that deals with homeschooling, were too wide.

He charged that while there is emphasis on holding teachers to account, the education sector is plagued by high levels of absenteeism, lack of transport in rural parishes, with just 18 per cent of graduates at the secondary level achieving five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) passes including mathematics and English.

“There are multiple reasons why the teachers are not the central reason [for the shortcomings in the education sector] and therefore, it is for this reason that we are concerned that in general the Bill seems more punitive than supportive,” said Crawford.

He pointed to the fines contained in the Bill and even imprisonment for people practising teaching without a licence — a fine of up to $1.5 million or 12 months’ imprisonment.

“There are way more dangerous activities that don’t carry such a fine, including dangerous driving,” Crawford argued.

He also pointed to what he described as the “vague criteria” being the reference to teachers being “competent to teach”, or being “fit and proper” which, he argued, lacked a definition in the Bill.

The Opposition senator further noted that there is no built-in access to continuous professional development.

“Therefore, the Act, I believe, doesn’t sufficiently support good teachers, instead it seeks to punish any negatives that exist,” said Crawford.

He pointed out that while Section 69 of the Bill speaks to a teacher’s right to appeal deregistration, suspension, or non-renewal of their licence, there is no stay of decision during the appeal process.

“The person may actually be without salary during the appeal process…teachers must stop teaching while the appeal is pending,” Crawford said, noting that an appeal could drag on for an extended time and go all the way to the country’s final court of appeal, the Privy Council.

In his presentation Gayle — who attended 44 of the 45 meetings of the joint select committee — told Crawford that he was sorry he was not part of the committee.

Gayle charged that the members who were picked by the Opposition to sit on the joint select committee attended only a few meetings and “did not represent well”.

The Bill will now go to the House of Representatives for debate and approval.

Government Senator Kavon Gayle making his contribution to the debate on the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill in the Senate on Friday. (Photo: JIS)