I support police record for teachers

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There are many contentious aspects of the Jamaica Teaching Council Act that need to be addressed, but the requirement for teachers to present their police record for certification should not be one of them.

There is an urgent need to protect institutions and vulnerable students from nefarious individuals who masquerade as teachers, especially those who sexually assault students.

Sadly, these vicious crimes quickly fade from our collective memory but let us recall that only this year there were reports of an eleven-year-old in Manchester being raped by her teacher. In St Ann, a teacher was charged with buggery, and yet another is under investigation for reportedly raping students in multiple high schools!

The latter case is revealing. Because schools do not usually do rigorous background checks on teachers, predators are emboldened to go from one school to another wrecking students’ bodies and futures.

Shockingly, these are only a few of the cases that have come to the public’s attention.

Requiring a police record will eliminate persons who have a record of sexual abuse engaging with students in public schools.

But we must go further than a police record. All teachers should be required to attend seminars on sexual abuse prevention for certification.

Teachers must also be aware of symptoms of abuse and know the steps to take to report these cases.

Perhaps the sexual abuse of students by their instructors does not rest high on Jamaica’s heinous totem pole of crime, but it must be seriously addressed.

Requiring teachers to submit a police record for certification is the first step in helping to stem the scourge of abuse and safeguard the profession from disrepute.

MARIA MUTIDJO

Teacher