Belling the JTA cat - at last!

Drag teachers kicking and screaming into the 21st century

Robert Wynter , Contributor

The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) is, for all intents and purposes, a trade union with a teacher-centred purpose. Its mission is clear: "A democratic organisation responsible for the enhancement and protection of the economic welfare, professional development and personal well-being of its members and the promotion of the education interests of the country of Jamaica."

The Ministry of Education's (MOE's) student-centred mission is also very clear: "To provide strategic leadership and policy direction for quality education for all Jamaicans to maximise their potential, contribute to national development and compete effectively in the global economy."

It is no surprise, therefore, that there have been conflicts between the two organisations.

For many years, the JTA has held a privileged status well beyond its relative importance and its accountability. For instance, parents outnumber teachers nearly 40:1, yet they are not involved in monthly meetings with senior ministry officials, as is the JTA.

With the importance of education in national life, with a large share of the national Budget, with continued poor student performance while certain conditions of service for teachers remain out of touch with reality, Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites believes enough is enough and has displayed the necessary testicular fortitude to bell the proverbial cat.

I strongly suggest that the JTA accept the belling graciously; bearing in mind the unmet needs of the students and the country's tight fiscal space.

In his maiden Sectoral Debate presentation last year, Minister Thwaites declared that education is not a social ministry; rather, it is an investment ministry. He then posed the questions: How do we improve the quality of education and how do we extract value from the $74 billion spent by Government?

Central to his own response was that: "Transformation had started, but now it must be strengthened with fixity of purpose."

One year later, with a signed IMF agreement and a public-sector wage freeze, the education minister came to Parliament reminding us of the current crisis. Minister Thwaites spoke frankly and passionately, describing "secondary education outcomes as a disgrace". He reminded us of some cold, hard facts that most of us want to forget. "Approximately 50 per cent of the secondary cohort leave with a certificate of attendance and a pretty picture of cap and gown. Most knock on the doors of HEART where three-quarters cannot be admitted because their literacy and numeracy do not reach the modest grade-nine level".

Terming this a disastrous situation, the minister, with his promised fixity of purpose, declared, "We must not hide from it; we are determined to fix it. This is a call to action!"

IMF DEAL EDUCATION COMPONENT

In Section 39 of Jamaica's Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (aka, the IMF agreement) titled 'Spending on education will also be made more efficient and effective', strategies include mandatory retirement and reforming the current study leave policies to take account of the new hiring policy; and restructuring the current scholarship programmes into separate need-based and merit-based components.

Prior to his Sectoral presentation, Minister Thwaites consulted with the hierarchy of the JTA, as confirmed by President Clayton Hall, the latter noting that there was no agreement by the JTA. However, when the matter of leave was announced in Parliament, all hell broke loose as teachers believed they were short-changed by the Government that promised them no reduction in benefits during the wage freeze.

The teachers also felt they were short-changed by their own hierarchy, as President Hall meekly admitted to the consultations. In flexing its muscles, the JTA announced that it has suspended all talks with the minister until parish consultations are held. When asked on Nationwide Evening News by Cliff Hughes why he had suspended talks with the minister, Mr Hall could only mumble an incoherent answer: We now await the outcome of the parish consultations.

The latest teacher rebellion has taken on an even more aggressive tone. Last Friday, the St Elizabeth Teachers' Association, a chapter of the JTA, has called Minister Thwaites a modern-day "Backra Massa" and accused him of "acting in a manner as if he has assumed the mantle of kingship and is a law unto himself".

The St Elizabeth teachers have also urged the JTA to "withdraw its standing invitation to the minister of education to address the annual conference in August 2013 and that the JTA extends the invitation to the prime minister of Jamaica".

DISGRACEFUL OUTCOMES

The Task Force Report on Education Reform indicated that in 2003, only 11.5 per cent of the nation's grade 11 cohort achieved five CXC passes, including English and math.

The transformation plan designed was expected to drive this figure to 60 per cent by 2015. The fact that in 2012, only 14.6 per cent had been achieved means that although 75 per cent of the transformation time had elapsed, only 6.4 per cent of the performance gap has been closed. This confirms the minister's assertion that secondary education performance is a disgrace.

It is beyond doubt that teachers, in general, and the JTA, in particular, can positively impact the performance of the education system. While other factors are important such as parental involvement, ministry policy, societal influence, and student apathy, a school must develop strategies to overcome any challenges facing a student.

The fact that our education performance is so poor suggests that either teacher influence is not as great as it is made out to be OR the overall performance of teachers, and by extension the JTA, is not as great as they make it out to be.

HOLDING THE SYSTEM HOSTAGE

Based on its mission, the JTA simply promotes education interests in Jamaica rather than hold itself accountable for national education performance. I am sure President Hall does not take accountability for the disastrous performance of education; instead, he takes accountability for the well-being of teachers.

It is against that background that I do not believe that JTA should have pride of place in national education policy development or even pride of place on the Teachers' Services Commission (TSC). Here is an organisation which, among other things, recommends appointments of principals and vice-principals to the minister of education. The act gives the minister full authority to appoint the chairman and gives the JTA six positions on the council.

Having disagreed with then Education Minister Andrew Holness' appointment of Alphansus Davis (past JTA president and then adviser to the minister) to be chairman, the JTA used its muscle by withdrawing its six appointees from attending meetings of the commission.

With their withdrawal, there were no quorums and, consequently, no appointment of principals and vice-principals for a very long time. In other words, the JTA held the entire education system hostage, contributing to the continued poor performance of the education system. I believe that no single body should have this seemingly unbridled power and strongly

I suggest Minister Thwaites reconsider balancing the membership of the TSC.

STUDY LEAVE

There was a time when improving one's professional status, a teacher needed time-off as the courses available were full-time and only offered during the day. The granting of one year fully paid study leave was reasonable then. However, with the advent of online, evening and choices from far more institutions, this is no longer necessary.

In fact, every other professional upgrades himself/herself in the manner above even without the luxury of eight weeks school downtime in the summer. It is now high time that the JTA be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

The disgraceful national education performance cannot continue unabated. The two most impactful institutions in this regard are the JTA and the Ministry of Education. The JTA needs to realise that although it is a trade union, it must be held accountable for the performance of national education outcomes, recognise that the world is changing, and transform itself accordingly.

While being respectful to the JTA, civil society must lend its voice and support to the efforts being made by Minister Thwaites to catalyse that transformation.

Finally, Minister Thwaites and Permanent Secretary Elaine Foster-Allen must now turn the spotlight on the ministry, as it, too, needs to transform itself to drive improvement in national education outcomes.

Robert Wynter is managing director of Strategic Alignment Limited, which facilitates organisational transformation and leadership development. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and rob.wyn@hotmail.com.