Gordon Robinson | We see you, JTA

So, with the Teachers Council Bill passed in the Senate and on its way to the “Lower” House, once again Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has thrown a tantrum and tossed its toys out of the pram.

JTA is only reprising its puerile performance of 2022 when the Bill was first tabled. At that time its asinine argument was that the Bill was a scheme to get rid of teachers without due process. But any of their primary school students could read that it was regulating ENTRY to and PARTICIPATION IN the profession NOT forcing exit of any already in the system. In a nutshell the Bill is trying to ensure teaching is a profession in name and nature.

At that time I wrote an education trilogy published by Gleaner on May 29 (We need a revolution in education); June 5 (Transforming 40 years of miseducation); and June 12 (A generation irredeemably lost). They are still available online.

On May 29, 2022, I wrote: “ The Bill provides that only registered teachers may teach. Only qualified persons may be registered. Then registered teachers must participate in a continuing teacher training education programme. There are exceptions for schools that can satisfy the council if they can’t find licensed teachers but have candidates with the skill sets and experience to advance children’s learning. So JTA, get used to education’s priority being students’ interest NOT teachers ’ (my emphasis).”

I also pointed out, and re-iterate here, that the obligation now lies on Government to complement the Bill’s provisions with ancillary reforms. To make teaching a real profession, Government must ensure teachers are highly qualified AND highly paid. In my opinion, qualified teachers should be paid more than any other public servant.

On June 5, 2022, I took a close look at the Orlando Patterson Commission Report. It pointed out:

“There’s a strong perception the (under)performance of the system can be linked to an outdated educational philosophy that supports a too teacher-dominant pedagogy, focused on the traditional 3-Rs, that isn’t capable of delivering the education and training required to meet cognitive, social, technological, and other workforce needs of a transitional society, let alone one with as many social problems as Jamaica’s. Our approach emphasises teaching and learning as a collaborative process (again, my emphasis) around an instructional core that engages teachers, students, and a dynamic curriculum, supported by out-of-school stakeholders…..”

I often wonder if there are any history teachers in JTA. If they were, they should be able to research Jamaica’s education outcomes over the past 40 odd years and realise they are steadily declining. So, something’s cockeyed somewhere and I guarantee you it’s not the students’ fault.

Up to now teachers might be able to point fingers at Governments who have taken a laissez-faire attitude to how to train and utilise teachers. However, starting with the JTC Bill, that excuse is losing traction. There’s much more for Government to do but, like twenty lawyers at the bottom of the sea, this Bill is a good start!

On June 9, 2022, I summed up by diagnosing the disease as “a metastasised cancer of mis-education; disrespect and scorn for the formal system by many parents and students; and deeply rooted resistance to change entrenched by decades of a business-as-usual approach to curricula and teaching.”

As I wrote then there’s no quick cure for this cancer and no prospect of remission in time for the next election or the one after that. That combination of political and societal realities ensured that Government, under fire from vested interests, plodded along slower than Donald Trump with ankle weights until the Bill is only now being passed. There seemed zero enthusiasm for expending political capital on radical change.

But here we now are.

This time around, three years after the tabling of the Bill during which time joint select committees held countless consultations, including with JTA, now JTA whines that the Bill is “punitive”. Punitive for whom? The Bill provides, after a lengthy transitional period, for a substantial fine if found guilty of teaching without a licence; impersonating a teacher; and committing fraud or misrepresentation regarding licensing. How on God’s green earth does that affect hard working, honest, qualified teachers?

And why are fines for similar offences by nurses of any relevance? Listen up! One. Last. Time! Teachers are more important to nation building than any other public servant. Without teachers there would be no nurses. Impersonating a teacher is worse than impersonating a nurse. Full stop!

But here’s the thing JTA just doesn’t get. Education’s priority is students NOT teachers! Teachers’ owe students a duty to be qualified, capable and up to date with evolving methods. Students owe teachers respect and attention. That’s it. That’s all. If students breach their duty they are punished, as children, with detentions, suspensions and, in extreme cases, expulsion. Teachers’ breaches should be punished as adults.

It gets worse for JTA. There are ONLY SIX JTA representatives on JTC. Only SIX? OMG! How will JTC function? Wusserer, if a Council meeting is called and no JTA representative shows up, the meeting can still be held. Imagine THAT. JTA neither dominates nor can obstruct JTC’s work? It’ll have to attend and contribute like any other education stakeholder.

Let’s be real. Teachers regulating teachers is a non-starter. It’s another colonial vestige like lawyers regulating lawyers as happens now. Teachers and lawyers should contribute to their regulatory bodies. But neither should dominate disciplinary proceedings brought against marketplace competitors.

So good on Government for not putting foxes in charge of teachers’ henhouse!

As to JTA’s “concerns” about the Bill’s “Minister sey” provisions, that argument is systemic not specific to this Bill. In Westminster, ministerial “oversight” is legislated in almost every regulatory statute. Historically, regulators make decisions on behalf of Government because Government can’t be everywhere. But, in Westminster, Parliament (a.k.a. Government) is “sovereign” so must retain ultimate control.

Our copycat Westminster is so absurd that it’s based on a written Constitution yet still wants to retain Ministerial diktat. JTA, if that’s really your concern, join the movement for real Constitutional Reform and stop bellyaching because Jamaica’s Westminster governance norms have finally found you and bitten you in the behind.

Lookie here, JTA, you don’t control education policy. You are an organization set up to advance teachers’ welfare NOT command Government. So you want to take charge? You want to be able to disrupt or discontinue the urgently needed education revolution? You now say you’ll take “all positive steps” to prevent the Bill from being passed unless you approve its contents?

Go ahead. Do your worst. We see you JTA. Like the Spice Girls, we know what you really, really want. You want tradition. You want to continue producing the poor education outcomes of the last forty years. You want reform without change. Our children need more.

Don’t get me started on PNP’s hopping from foot to foot like an excited child on Christmas Eve. Its anxiety to score pretentious political points thus making life difficult for Government in an election year is as transparent as it’s nationally destructive. It’s time for politics to acknowledge we’ve been heading towards educational Armageddon for decades. We don’t have anything resembling education across the board in Jamaica. The minority of students who succeed do so in spite of the system. We graduate too many undisciplined, under-educated and under equipped students.

We cannot continue like this. We must abandon the usual political cass cass. Time come for PNP to pick its battles intelligently and stop opposing reflexively. Transparent begging for teachers’ votes by speaking with water in your mouth is embarrassing and counter-productive. PNP should remember it might actually win the election after which what goes around will come around.

So, leave our children’s future alone.

We’ve had 40 years of talk; 20 years of reports; three years of this Bill being tabled and debated. My blessed uncle, the late, great J.D. Hall, had a favourite metaphor for scenarios like this that I shouldn’t repeat verbatim but it loosely translates to time to produce an action. Every Jamaican should support the JTC Bill. Any operational issues arising can be addressed later. The journey to quality Education for our children must start NOW.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com