Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
OCHO RIOS:
TEACHERS ARE preparing to do battle with the Ministry of Education if there are attempts to effect lay offs in the classroom.
The issue surfaced at the 36th annual conference of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) yesterday attended by some 300 delegates at the Jamaica Grande Hotel. The delegates charged that the Ministry had asked some principals to submit names of teachers who could be cut from their staff ahead of the new academic term in September.
One principal, who did not want to be identified, said she knew of a least three others who had received such letters. However, she refused to name the principals or the schools they represent.
Immediate past president of the JTA, Dr. Nadine Scott confirmed that the JTA had received reports that letters have been sent out. However, she argued that any attempt to cut permanent employed teachers, would be stoutly defended by the JTA.
"Once they are permanently employed, we will defend them," Dr. Scott said.
In the meantime, principal of the Lewisville Comprehensive High in St. Elizabeth, Juno Gayle is set to bring a resolution to the conference today, calling on the Minister of Education to explain the rationale for the cut back in the education system.
Byron Farquharson, a past president of the JTA, told The Gleaner that the teachers were being squeezed out of the system because the Ministry was rigidly insisting on its ratios of 1 to 42 teachers in Primary schools and 1 to 25 teachers in High schools. Teachers graduating from Teachers colleges, were hardest hit, he said.
"To be very specific, in a recent meeting with principals from schools in Manchester, of all those who were present, not one of them was hiring a recent graduate from the teachers colleges because everybody is said to be overstaffed," he said.
Mr. Farquharson suggested that the Ministry was attempting to implement the KPMG Peat Marwick report without consulting with teachers. The audit which was carried out under two years ago, identified the Ministry as being very inefficient and pointed to causes such as overstaffing in some schools.
When The Gleaner contacted Edwin Thomas, public information officer for the Ministry, he said the issues touched on matters of policy that Education Minister Burchell Whiteman would address.
Mr. Whiteman will field questions from the delegates at the closing session of the conference tomorrow (Wednesday).
