Gayle against probation for staffers transitioning to new teaching regulator
Published:Monday | June 17, 2024 | 12:07 AMEdmond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter
Government senator and trade unionist Kavan Gayle last Thursday objected to a provision in the Jamaica Teaching Council bill that could place employees of the current regulatory body on probation as they transition to a successor entity under the proposed law.
Section 85 (1) of the Jamaica Teaching Council Act, 2022, states, “Subject to the provisions of this section, on the appointed day, a person holding an appointment or assigned to an office under the existing council, shall be transferred to the service of the council established under this act for a period of six months or such longer period as the council may, in special circumstances, determine.”
During deliberations on the bill on Thursday, Gayle indicated that he could not support the provision, which could place an employee of the current council on a six-month probation as the workers transition to the new entity.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Foreman explained that Section 85 (1) was a provision in legislation where a new entity is being created to take over an existing one. He said the purpose of the provision is to facilitate the transition in employment from the old to the new.
He pointed to the Integrity Commission Act, which contains transitional provisions that facilitated the subsuming of three entities into one and the transfer of staff into the new Integrity Commission.
However, Gayle further argued that the objective of the transitional process is to ensure that critical skills are transferred to the new entity.
“We run the risk of losing the skill set if we make the terms of the transition insecure,” Gayle said.
He suggested that the process, as set out in the proposed law, could lend itself to the victimisation of workers.
“So if I don’t like you, I could place you on probation,” he said.
Gayle warned that the proposed process could create what he described as the “most insecure transition and put a burden of anxiety and fear among anyone who is trying to transition”.
The government senator reasoned that the council should ensure that the skill sets are carried over to the new entity with the same terms and conditions of employment or better.
“If I am the only member of this committee that is responding on this matter, 85 (1) does not have my support in the manner it is suggesting,” he stressed.
The Jamaica Teaching Council Act, 2022, seeks to “recognise and promote teaching as a profession; contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning in Jamaica by regulating the entry and standing of members of the teaching profession and to establish and maintain the registers of teachers and the roll of instructors”.
The proposed law has been crafted to establish and maintain professional standards for teacher competence and practice and to regulate the professional conduct of teachers to ensure, in the public interest, that teachers are fit and proper persons to teach.