Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
Delegates at the 41st Annual Jamaica Teachers Association conference at the Sunset Jamaica Grand Resort in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Monday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
OCHO RIOS, St. Ann
RUEL REID, newly-elected president of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), says he is disappointed that the Government has yet to tell the public how the transformation of the education system will be fully funded.
"After the hype of presenting the Task Force Report, we really do not have the will to find the money," he said Monday during the opening night of the 41st annual JTA Conference at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
In delivering a no-holds-barred speech after being invested as JTA president, Mr. Reid said the national debate should focus more on funding the education system efficiently and not be limited to focus on teacher performance.
TEACHERS NEED ADEQUATE RESOURCES
He said that teachers need adequate resources and facilities to demonstrate superior performance.
The Task Force Report, tabled in Parliament last December, said it would cost the Government an additional $22 billion each year over the next ten years to implement its recommendations.
But to date Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has only announced that $5 billion would be pulled from the National Housing Trust to go towards the transformation process.
Mr. Reid called for an open debate with all the stakeholders in the education system to see how best the transformation process could be funded.
He said principals and school boards should not be left to find creative means to fund schools, as they should be consumed in managing the teaching and learning process.
Mr. Reid also said that unless the teachers of Jamaica buy into the changes of the education system and the implementers engage with the JTA, the recommendations are not going to work.
