EDITORIAL - Holness' blundering with Teachers' Service Commission

We are surprised that at this late stage, several months, and unabated controversy, into Mr Alphansus Davis' tenure as chairman of the Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) that the education minister, Mr Andrew Holness, would hint at remorse, not at the appointment, but the way it was done.

Frankly, Mr Holness' statement of regret, assuming it is genuine, smacks of naiveté on the minister's part and should serve as a lesson on how he should, in the future, go about filling critical and sensitive posts.

Moreover, the minister's clumsy handling of the matter has provided the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), the teachers' union, with cover and ammunition for their resistance to efforts at accountability.

The TSC, broadly, is among a raft of initiatives developed in recent years to overhaul Jamaica's poor-performing education system. It will regulate the teaching profession, including the registration of those who work in classrooms, the qualifications they require, and matters of discipline.

Controversial dual roles

On the face of it, Mr Davis is qualified to head such a commission, legislation for which is soon to be approved by Parliament. He was, for many years, a classroom teacher, served as a principal, and has been head of school boards.

But Mr Davis is no longer in the classroom. He is now on the direct payroll of the education ministry and a key adviser to Mr Holness on strategic matters - a post he holds concurrently with his chairmanship of the TSC.

It is Mr Davis' dual roles that, understandably, have become a source of conflict. For several months, since Mr Davis' appointment as the TSC chairman was announced, the political Opposition and the JTA have warned of a potential conflict of interest.

While the commission will implement policy that has the blessing of Government, it will be required to be impartial in its deliberations, which critics say could be impaired, given Mr Davis' other job in Minister Holness' secretariat. Even if he is capable of straddling the two, there is still the saying about justice not only being done, but seen to be done.

Unnecessary distraction

Mr Holness has now said that had he anticipated the JTA's opposition, he would not have made the appointment. We, however, would have expected that an appointment such as this, whatever the minister's final decision, would have been canvassed before key stakeholders. In that event, Mr Holness would not have been surprised by the reaction - or that it would matter - given the ministry's hang-tough position in its several statements on the matter earlier this year.

As it now stands, the dispute over its leadership is a distraction from where the focus should be: the central work of the TSC, which is good for many underperforming teachers. They can continue to limp along, with taxpayers having little to show for their investment, and not being held to account.

It can't be beyond the capacity of Mr Holness and his myriad advisers, Mr Davis included, to figure a way out of this simple problem, notwithstanding the minister's allusion to the legal protection of persons once appointed to the TSC.