Teachers defiant

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

THE JAMAICA Teachers' Association (JTA) yesterday told its members not to comply with a Ministry of Education directive to apply for leave due to their absence from the classroom during the passage of Tropical Storm Nicole.

The Ministry of Education on October 12 told school managers, by way of a circular, that teachers who were absent from school during the period must have their absence recorded as leave providing they had not been marooned in communities or kept away from the classrooms by impassable road conditions.

But yesterday, the JTA, the union which represents the majority of the island's teachers, instructed teachers not to apply for the leave as directed by the Ministry of Education.

"The JTA is alarmed that the ministry could consider punishing its employees for a matter over which they had no control. We believe that the ministry, by this action, is disregarding good industrial-relations practice and peace at the workplace," the JTA said in a statement.

misinterpreted

However, Grace McLean, the Chief Education Officer over whose signature the circular was sent to school managers, told The Gleaner that the JTA appeared to have misinterpreted the correspondence.

"There is no kind of animosity or any kind of bad relationship between us and the JTA. We are usually able to sort out our issues and think this is just a misunderstanding that just needs to be cleared up," McLean said.

Meanwhile, the JTA said the circular from the ministry breached the parameters within which the parties work. "I am taking it as a misunderstanding," Nadine Molloy, the association's president, told The Gleaner.

Molloy said causal leave is a negotiated benefit that should not be interfered with. She also said teachers would be using their casual leave unnecessarily if they followed the ministry's directive.

"Casual leave is granted for personal emergencies or minor illnesses. The ODPEM asked that the schools be closed, and the minister of education concurred on some days with the ODPEM. Teachers could not get to school because of an act of nature over which they had no control. Why are you asking them to use their casual leave? How is it a personal emergency or a minor illness?" Molloy asked.

Teachers are entitled to a maximum of 12 days casual leave each year.