Williams says stakeholder representation important for teaching council

Albert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer

Education Minister Fayval Williams says the government is standing by the composition of the Jamaica Teaching Council, the body that will assess and licence teachers.

Williams argued that the council is no different from other bodies in countries such as the United States where several Jamaican teachers are employed.

She said the goal is to ensure proper representation.

“I want to assure you and the members of the JTA [Jamaica Teachers' Association] that when we look across the world, especially in many states in the USA, a country that employs many of our Jamaican teachers, their licensing regime and the council or commission that forms the governance structure are not dissimilar from the licensing regime we're trying to create here in Jamaica,” Williams argued.

“In fact, in California, a state to which many Jamaican teachers migrate, the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing consists of 19 members, 15 voting members and four ex-officio or non-voting members,” the education minister noted.

She shared that of the 15 voting members six are classroom teachers, one school administrator, one school board member, a school counsellor, one higher education faculty member from an institution for teacher education and four public members.

“This is in recognition that education has the widest cross-section of stakeholders than I dare say any other profession and that these stakeholders must be represented at the table,” Williams insists. 

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