Teacher resignations rise to 854 so far this year

With less than a week before school reopens, Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams has indicated that 854 teachers have resigned from the public sector between January and September this year. 

She made the disclosure at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, where she outlined that the Ministry received a significant number of those resignations after the August pay cycle ended on Friday. 

Up to August 16, the ministry had reported 427 resignations.

“Ahead of the school year, obviously, getting notice here a few days before school opens, I can fully understand the uncertainty of our principals and boards across Jamaica,” she said. 

However, she noted that the number of resignations represents a 44 per decline compared to the 1,538 teachers who resigned from the public school system for the similar period last year. She also shared that a number of those positions have since been filled. 

While stressing that Section 54 of the Education Regulations of 1980 requires teachers who are permanent in the system to give three months' notice, and for those who hold temporary, acting or provisional positions to give one month's notice, she described the “age old” practice of teachers resigning without notice as unprofessional. 

She said that the ministry has been proactive in providing strategies for schools to utilise in their recruitment processes. This includes preapproval given to boards to make early recruitment decisions, which may involve engaging part-time, retired and pre-trained graduate teachers, and final-year student teachers. 

She said schools could also take the decision to redeploy underutilised staff,  merge small classes, use the block timetable approach and increase the use of information and communication technology in the classroom. They may also use the recently launched job bank to seek out and hire teachers. 

The education minister noted that there are approximately 25,000 teachers in the 1,010 schools across the island and that there is an available pool of almost 1,700 teachers to be employed. 

“I know there will be the argument that math teachers, English teachers and so on are the important ones in the system where we may see gaps. And yes, I will agree and we need to make sure that we are aggressive in terms of offering scholarships for those very important areas,” she said. 

“The Ministry stands ready, we have anticipated, we've given the strategies, we've given the approval for boards and principals to act, but at the same time, we will continue to provide additional resources to help our schools, to ensure that we make it smoothly though this upcoming school year," she added. 

- Sashana Small

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