JTA confident of wage hike for teachers

The president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) Clayton Hall emerged from a meeting with the Finance Ministry yesterday confident that the island's teachers could see a possible wage increase soon.

Speaking with The Gleaner today, Hall said the JTA is awaiting a response from the finance ministry as to how much teachers will receive and how many of its suggestions would be accepted.

Yesterday's talks were led by Minister with responsibility for the Public Service, Horace Dalley.

Last week, the JTA rejected a wage proposal put forward by the Government. It is understood the Government was seeking the JTA’s agreement to a wage freeze for the next five years to contain the public wage bill, which is a precondition for getting a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

And responding to the education ministry's announcement on the weekend that it is considering extending the school year, Hall says focus should instead be placed on improving the quality of education.

The JTA president says research shows that increasing contact hours or the number of school days would not necessarily increase output. He argues that increasing resources to the schools would have a greater impact on productivity. He says further that if schools had more literacy specialists and trained teachers, for instance, performance would be enhanced.

However, he says the JTA is open for discussion on the matter.