JTA to submit suggestions to teaching bill to education ministry in April
Published:Saturday | March 28, 2026 | 12:07 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has announced that it will submit its written recommendations on proposed changes to the Jamaica Teaching Bill (JTC) to the Ministry of Education next month, after it had voiced strong objections to the law that would govern the teaching profession, and delayed its enactment.
Mark Malabver, president of the JTA, made the disclosure in response to a public appeal from State Minister Rhoda Moy Crawford.
“There are some internal processes that we have to go through to get approval of our response before submission. We are also awaiting a legal opinion,” Malabver told The Gleaner.
He said a submission timeline of April 15 was formally communicated to Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, minister of education, skills, youth and information.
“We would have written to the minister giving a timeline by which the same will be submitted,” Malabver said.
Speaking on Thursday during a quarterly press briefing hosted by the Education Transformation and Oversight Committee (ETOC), Crawford stated that Morris Dixon has been consulting with various groups, including the JTA, regarding the JTC bill, and requested their written submissions.
“I know for a fact that the JTA has still not given their written submissions, and I’m using this opportunity to appeal to the JTA, to send in their written submissions, we want to move very swiftly with this bill,” she stated.
REGULATING THE TEACHING PROFESSION
The JTC bill has been in development for two decades, and was passed in the Upper House in April last year. It seeks to regulate the teaching profession, including standards for licensing and disciplinary action. However, the JTA contends that the legislation undermines the autonomy of educators and places too much regulatory power in the hands of external authorities.
In May 2025, the organisation demanded that the Government “fix the bill” before debate in the Lower House, warning against “political expediency”, which it said was, seemingly, forcing the Holness administration to pass a bill that was “not carefully thought out”.
A key concern of the JTA, which represents about 25,000 teachers, is that the proposed structure of the JTC board sidelines educators. Of the 31 seats, only six are allocated to the JTA.
Further, it expressed concerns that there is no provision to prevent a meeting of the council if a quorum of a minimum six JTA representatives is not met.
The union also argued that the licensing and registration process, which mandates teachers to register every five years and submit police records, would be overly bureaucratic.
Further, it stated some functions of the JTC, which will demand additional resources and funding, will be duplicating roles of the Ministry of Education.
Meanwhile, ETOC Chairman Dr Adrian Stokes, who had previously voiced his concern about the setbacks in passing the legislation, acknowledged the value in further consultations during Thursday’s press conference.
“I think it’s very important to get feedback, and to build a coalition of stakeholders, because education impacts everyone of us. The delay was important to facilitate the consensus that is critical to these fundamental changes that are being made in the society,” he said.