Opposition spokesperson on education and youth development, Senator Damion Crawford, has accused Education Minister Fayval Williams of being ill-informed in her indication that the teacher migration situation in the country is not a crisis. 

His comments follow a recent statement by the Education Minister that there is less anxiety among principals over teacher resignations.

“One of the major concerns as it relates to functioning has been once again underestimated by the Ministry of Education and the Minister of Education, who indicated that there is less anxiety towards the opening of schools at this particular time because, for some reason or through some source, she has heard the principals are not as anxious. The fact of the matter is that with schools seven days away, we should be much further than heard, and a truthful, factual report should have been coming from the Ministry as to the current and expected migration,” Crawford said.

Crawford was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday (August 28).

“I myself have had many conversations with many principals as versus a recent article from the Ministry of Education that indicated that there was limited conversation between the government and the principals. One employee of the suggesting that speaking to the JTA [Jamaica Teachers’ Association] would have been deleterious to the efforts for importation of teachers, while this will be a necessary partner in ensuring that teachers who would become members of the JTA, because the Jamaica Teachers’ Association would not only be reserved to Jamaican teachers but teachers in Jamaica, so to that extent we offer the opinion that the Minister actually had limited conversations and is ill informed to assume that the teacher migration is not only a crisis,” he added.

The opposition spokesperson said he is of the opinion that this year’s statistics will surpass last year’s numbers.

“Indeed, it is the estimation by many principals and ourselves that the numbers will mimic last year and would surpass 1400 persons who are leaving the classroom at this time. That 1400 people are being encouraged to travel to different spaces across the world, in particular the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and even the Middle East, and these teachers have been recruited because of the potential that the Jamaican teachers hold and the ability that they have to deliver. 

Instead of trying to have a teacher retention plan, the Ministry and the Minister have engaged in a teacher importation plan, and even with the teacher importation plan, it is very helter-skelter, it is very unplanned, and it is lacking further information that is necessary to judge the impact that it will have,” Crawford added.

Reacting to an announcement by the Ministry that there are ongoing discussions about having foreign teachers from Ghana and the Philippines, Crawford has raised several concerns.

“We also have questions as to the number of Ghanaians that are supposed to come and whether it is going to be sufficient to replace the 1400 or satisfactory to place a dent in the 1400 additional teachers this year that we expect to migrate from the classroom. Additionally, we would like to know what the contractual arrangements are as it relates to time with the Ghanaians or any international teacher that we are recruiting. Is it a three-year contract or a one-year contract, and if there is such a contract, who is the employer or the person that is going to seek to interview these individuals that are coming to Jamaica? Is this the mandate of the Ministry or the mandate of the school through its board or through its principals, for whom many Jamaicans have to face the principal and the board for employment in that particular space and that particular school?” he added.

Crawford is calling on the Ministry of Education to provide a report on the number of teachers who have left the classroom in the last five years. 

Additionally, he is calling for an update on the number of posts that have not been filled over for any period of time over the last four years.