With the new academic school year now underway, Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams says school administrators have been able to so far fill 380 of the just over 850 vacancies created by the resignation of teachers in the public education system.

The education minister, who was speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (September 13), said: “This morning, we are able to report that 380 teacher vacancies have been filled in our schools and schools are reporting that interviews are still ongoing.”

The minister’s comments come at a time when there is much concern surrounding the number of teachers who are leaving the public education sector to flock to take up more lucrative offers overseas.

“We are also seeing a good take-up of teachers being their own replacement, these are those teachers who are approved for four months or eight months leave. A total of 519 have so far decided to forego their leave and remain in the classrooms. Additionally, 68 teachers who were due to retire have decided to remain for some time and we really thank them for the decisions that they have made to continue to be in our classrooms with our teachers. Of course, we thank our existing in-service teachers, we thank the new teachers, and again those who have seen it fit to decide to be in our classrooms even though they were approved for long leave or retirement. To all our teachers all across Jamaica, we owe you a debt of gratitude, we want to thank you for the work that you do and the education sector.

MINISTER OF EDUCATION, FAYVAL WILLIAMS

As of August 30, a total of 854 teachers in the public education system have resigned between January and September 2023. This is a 44 per cent decline when compared with the 1,538 teachers who resigned for the same period last year.