TWO days before the celebration of Teachers’ Day, Dr Mark Smith, the man who heads the union representing more than 25,000 educators, appeared to hint that more members could opt to leave the island for greener pastures, as disgruntlement grows over the proposed Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill.

“We have been seeking to raise the country’s awareness to the tsunami that is coming of teachers that are leaving the island in ever-increasing numbers. While we see a lot going on in North America where a lot of pundits point to and say our teachers will not leave because of the Administration presently in the White House, the truth is that it is not only the United States we must fear,” Smith, the president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), told journalists at a news conference at JTA’s headquarters on Church Street in Kingston on Monday.

“There are other jurisdictions that are increasing their pull on our existing stock of teachers. There are approximately 44 million teachers that are needed worldwide. We have to be careful about the arduous systems we are attempting to establish that further place pressure on our existing teachers,” Smith said as he outlined numerous faults that teachers have identified with the proposed Bill that was recently passed by the Senate and is now before the House of Representatives.

According to Smith, the teachers feel that despite great efforts by the JTA to be properly included in discussions surrounding the Bill, they were left out.

“Principals are presently struggling to identify teachers. When you get into areas like science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), where will we get these STEM teachers?” Smith asked, adding that that the country already has a woeful shortage of teachers.

He said that in many cases, schools have had to be engaging individuals to come in and assist them with certain subjects, for example “a mechanic down the road”.

“That individual will now have to get authorisation to teach or they will not be able to assist at all. The past student who comes back and gives a couple days, that person will need to be licensed. We are concerned that within the present landscape and the context of where we are as a country, the timing is not right,” Smith said in relation to the Bill.

He added that teachers harbour a lot of concerns regarding the proposed Bill. Among the issues is the fact that teachers who don’t have an up-to-date licence could be fined up to $500,000. He said that Government bureaucracy, surrounding for example the length of time it takes to get a police record and other crucial documents, is one of the reasons some teachers would find themselves without a valid licence at any given time.

“It is critical that we understand that the proposed fine appears disproportionately high. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, individuals found transporting large sums of money can be fined up to $250,000, but a trained teacher who is found to be working without a licence — they can be fined up to $500,000,” Smith said.

“If you look at nurses, we are advised that nurses in their first offence can be fined $200,000; second offence is $400,000. We have not [really] seen that happen. [Instead] what we see as a practice is that the nurses are charged $1,000 for every day they are not licensed while the employer is charged $1 million. Teachers cannot pay themselves. There are inconsistencies in this Act,” he said.

After more than two decades of deliberations across multiple administrations 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.

On Monday the JTA president expressed concern with the proposal for the JTC to be given the power to discipline teachers. He said that currently, that is the responsibility of boards of management at schools. He said that while the proposed Bill does not remove the ability of school boards to exact discipline, it grants the council greater powers in that regard, “even taking over the matters already before the board or the matters that the board has already treated with”.

“The council, pursuant to the disciplinary hearing, has the power to suspend registration and authority to teach, suspend, and/or revoke a teacher’s licence. It is quite possible that we will see under this Bill, if it is passed into law, the retrying of a teacher that would have been brought before a school board or a magistrate’s court. Under this Bill it is quite possible that you could have a matter that is treated and settled reopened by the council. I implore my colleagues and well-thinking Jamaicans to read the Bill. The Bill needs to be fixed. We call upon the Government to fix the Bill,” Smith insisted.

He declared that the JTA supports the concept of the Bill but said that the critical issues must be tackled to ensure injustice is not heaped on teachers. Additionally, he said the question of whether the Bill will meet any of its objectives or will create more problems must be answered.

“We must not make political expediency force us to pass something into law that will hurt this country,” he said, adding that the narrative in the public domain that the JTA is unwilling to partner is false and misleading.

“Whilst we support the general intent and purpose of the legislation and the policymaking apparatus, the board of the council is not truly representative of the sector and the professionals it seeks to regulate. We assert that there can be no regulation without effective representation. The underlying principles of this Act, its regulatory functions, are far too restrictive and punitive rather than being corrective, enabling and empowering of our teachers. It is important that we understand the battle we are in — it is one of justice, fairness and equity,” Smith said.

He argued that the composition of the board, as proposed in the Bill, marginalises teachers.

“When we look at other major councils within the island — specifically medical, legal and nursing — when we look at their existing bodies, we see where 60 per cent of their bodies is [made up of] individuals within the profession. What we are seeing, for instance with the nurses’ association, it is able to place 12 of the representatives of the 15 on their council. We can only appoint six of 31. The question then begs, why are teachers are being singled out?” Smith asked.

Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) representatives from across the island give their president Dr Mark Smith, a standing ovation after his presentation at a news conference Monday at JTA headquarters in Kingston.Photo: Joseph Wellington