The JTA and education reform

Maurice Smith, Contributor

Trade unionism is a relatively recent development in Jamaica's public education dating back to the 1950s when self- rule, regulation and the introduction of the free-place system served as precursors to teacher representation. This gave rise to the fusion of the existing five teachers' unions and the consequent birth of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) in 1964. Since its inception, this premier organisation has developed an enviable reputation for its vociferous promulgation of teachers' rights with regard to competitive salary, conditions of work and professional development. Undoubtedly the association, via successful lobby is to be credited for many initiatives that have improved the lives of countless teachers.

Despite its defence of decreasing the pupil-teacher ratio and increasing teachers' salaries as well as the average per-pupil spend, there appears to be no strong or systematic relationship between school expenditure and student performance. Consequently, our education system continues to trail regional counter-parts. Economics dictates that output should be a direct consequence of input. Private-sector entities know that if they retain incompetent employees, their companies will lose market share. By contrast, public education seems to operate differently as collective bargaining often excludes mechanisms that reward performance-driven professionals and enhance the system. Education reform, therefore, cannot be accomplished unless the JTA becomes an active partner in the formation and implementation of policy that will overhaul an entire sector that ought to be geared towards improved student achievement.

Ineptitude

The Education Act (1980) makes it insurmountably difficult for teachers to be dismissed for ineptitude, as when principals act, the teacher can contest through a three-tiered grievance procedure, leading all the way up to the Ministry of Education. Even when there is a decision to uphold the ruling, the teacher, with the help of the association, can go to arbitration. The process is so convoluted that most principals resort to reinstating the teacher or not bothering to cite him in the first place. In the film Waiting for Superman, it was reported that two per cent of doctors, one per cent of lawyers and 0.04 per cent of teachers lose their licence for incompetence. Jamaican school administrators need to be empowered to terminate the services of their underperforming teachers.

Current research shows that merit or performance pay has become increasingly accepted and is feasible if implemented on a collaborative and not competitive basis. The JTA's repeated objection of this concept dismisses the fundamental truth, that teachers ought to be held accountable for how much their children gain in learning. This, then raises the issue of the inescapable link between teacher and student performance as teaching is a labour-intensive occupation. At the primary and secondary levels, excellent teachers get results more so because of the hours they spend with students and their parents during and after school and not because they simply possess university degrees.

Successful systems

Numerous surveys by the United States Department of Education show that public-school teachers average 40 hours for each of the 36 weeks that school is in session. The world's most successful education systems (including Finland, Singapore and South Korea) require their teachers to average 45 hours for each of the 40-42 weeks school is in session. Jamaican schools are in session for 38 weeks with 11 per cent of those schools operating a shift system. The school day and year, as a matter of law, should be extended so as to ensure that students receive at least seven hours of direct instruction each day for at least 40 weeks. The JTA does need to put greater analysis into this issue.

Education reform must also speedily eliminate bureaucracy and implement regional bodies that assume responsibility for particular administrative functions related to curriculum, staffing and budgeting, carefully crafted to support teaching and learning. The voice of the JTA has been almost inaudible on the issue of decentralisation. It is, therefore, apparent that in a bid to reform education in Jamaica, the JTA must first reform itself in an effort to become more visible and proactive as far as educational policy is concerned. The solutions to our challenges lie beyond remuneration packages, and so too should the JTA's representation.

Maurice D. Smith, a member of the JTA, is a doctoral student at Howard University. Feedback to this article can be sent to maurice.d.smith@bison.howard.edu or columns@gleanerjm.com