'She has no clue' - Ex-PNP senator wants Fayval Williams fired over teacher-migration crisis

Former People's National Party (PNP) senator Wensworth Skeffery says Education Minister Fayval Williams should be sacked over what he claims is her incompetent handling of the crisis stemming from the migration of teachers to lucrative jobs overseas.  

"I call on Andrew Holness, because he was a former minister of education ....him never good neither, eno, but him likkle better than the one wi have now ...to rescue the education system, save our children and get rid of Fayval Williams right now, and put little competence in the Ministry of Education," he pleaded to the prime minister at the party's Manchester North Western constituency conference at the Mile Gully Primary School on Saturday. 

President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, Linvern Wright, has said a sense of dread has engulfed principals, who are now scrambling with their boards to see how the blow can be cushioned in time for the start of the new school year on September 5. 

He said it's difficult to provide an accurate figure of the number of teachers leaving, although reports suggest it could be upwards of 400. Approximately 25, 074 teachers were employed by the government in 2021, according to the 2021 Economic and Social Survey published in June. 

However, Williams has repeatedly downplayed the concerns, saying there was no data to suggest a cause for alarm. She told Nationwide Radio last week that almost 1,000 specialised teachers are leaving training institutions this year. 

However, Skeffery, a former teacher, has joined his party's critics, asserting that the minister needs to be more aggressive in addressing the shortage of teachers. 

"We have a Minister of Education, when I hear her talk, tears come a mi eye. She has no clue about education. She nuh understand the system," he said. 

"The principals dem seh di teachers dem a lef' di ting left, right and centre, and the Minister of Education seh nutten  nuh guh so, a di norm dat," he continued, adding: "Yuh know why she seh dat? Cause shi nuh understand di system because di first set a persons weh a guh know when teachers a leave a the board chairmen and the principal. Teachers don't resign to the Ministry of Education."

Last week, Opposition Spokesperson on Education, Senator Damion Crawford described the increased migration patterns of teachers from Jamaica as a clear and present danger.

He said the minister has indicated that the number of teachers leaving the classroom was in line with global standards. However, he is of the view that, over time, the number of teachers employed will deplete by approximately 30 per cent in 10 years and 60 per cent in 20 years.

The president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools said he's aware of a very prominent school where 23 out of about 100 teachers are leaving, with another institution due to lose 16 educators. 

Wright, who is also principal of the William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny, said 11 of the 63 teachers at his school have resigned. 

- Olivia Brown

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