GABBIDON:The JTA is still against performance pay for teachers.
Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
THE LONG-AWAITED task force report on education was made public yesterday with several sweeping recommendations, which could see wide-ranging transformation in the education system.
The proposals, made by the 14-member task force, include performance pay for teachers, licensing of teachers, the increase of students' contact hours in schools, and literacy and grade level remediation.
"Teachers will be financially rewarded on the basis of improved student achievement. This will ensure that our best teachers will be motivated to stay in the system and those who are weak will be more inclined to get help," Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said yesterday in the House of Representatives.
"I am confident that this performance-based culture can provide a catalyst for marked and sustained improvements in the performance of all staff, from the Ministry (of Education) to our schools," he added.
The report also recommends a renegotiation of the leave entitlement of teachers and principals to increase students' contact hours in school and the number of teaching days that now stand at 190 days per year.
The task force recommended that students in need of grade level remediation be taken out of the grade and provided with parallel remediation. The prime minister said that in some cases there will be mixed grade delivery to remediate those in need, while "providing normal curriculum delivery for others."
He also disclosed that a new licensing and certification system for teachers would be implemented which would ensure that they are equipped to operate in a global village. According to Mr. Patterson, "Our children are entitled to benefit from the best."
However, Edward Seaga, leader of the Opposition, while admitting that he had not yet seen the report, said he has some concerns. He said the prime minister had failed to mention the critical issue of early childhood education, warning that unless the government starts from the bottom up, "we are building on a foundation which is very weak".
Responding, Mr. Patterson pointed out that a section of the report made reference to early childhood education.
Meanwhile, Wentworth Gabbidon, outgoing president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), who was in the House yesterday, told The Gleaner that the JTA is still against performance pay for teachers.
"We continue to say payment by students' performance is not something that we support. We believe that you should pay the teachers a reasonable salary and if they are not performing you get them out of the system," he said.
DISCUSSIONS
Mr. Gabbidon, who was also a member of the task force, added: "We support areas of the report, there are some points in which we have some difficulty and we will be voicing them during the consultations and discussions that will follow."
It will take an estimated $21.9 billion in additional funding annually or a total annual budget of $52.1 billion up to 2015 to transform the education system.
In February, Mr. Patterson appointed the 14-member task force, which was chaired by Dr. Rae Davis, president of the University of Technology. It had a mandate to deliver an action plan for a 'world-class education system'.
A transformation team will be appointed and is expected to be in place by February to implement the recommendations of the report.
