NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024 27 JTA 60TH ANNIVERSARY FEATURE JTC from offloading its financial burdens on the teachers. 4. THE DEFINITION OF WHO IS A ‘TEACHER’ Determination as to who or/what constitutes a teacher. “The specific requirement as to the definition of ‘teacher’ as proposed would render a number of colleagues, especially at the early childhood level, non-teachers,” said Mr Hall. He said that was so based on qualifications proposed by the JTC, that would be used to determine who was a teacher. In terms of qualifications, the bill proposes that a teacher is anyone with a Bachelor of Education or a first degree with a post-graduate diploma in teaching. That would exclude most teachers at the early childhood level because they are trained at the vocational level and do not have degrees. 5. THE CRIMINALISATION OF TEACHING The early proposal was so framed that teaching an individual not biologically related to you could become a criminal act if you were not licensed as a teacher. Teaching without a licence attracted a fine of $500,000. “If, for example, a student at a higher grade was teaching another at a lower grade who was not a relative, that person [teaching without a licence] would be liable. That was ludicrous,” said Mr Hall. 6. FINES AND MISDEMEANOURS There was no differentiation between serious charges and misdemeanours as it related to the fines to be imposed for infractions. Mr Hall said teaching without a licence, even if the licence had expired, could involve a fine pf up to $500,000, the same as would apply to an individual who actively impersonated a teacher. 7. NEW METHOD OF SEPARATION FROM THE JOB According to Mr Hall, the JTA felt there was reason to at least consider that the JTC could use licensing (or the withholding of a licence) as a way of separating a teacher from his or her job. Since licensing was to be used as a prerequisite to practise, instead of the established system being employed to find a teacher guilty of an offence that could result in dismissal, the JTC could simply not renew the licence of a teacher involved in a disciplinary issue, thereby denying the right to teach. 8. JTC COULD MONOPOLISE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT What the bill was proposing was that professional development, which is a prerequisite for the licensing, and continuation and extension of the licence would be solely the remit of the JTC. Mr. Hall says that is problematic in several ways. First, it may negate all the professional development done by professional authorised and accredited agencies over the years. Second, it could create an economic funnel or money trap whereby the JTC would have the legitimate authority under the law to determine what courses or what professional development is to go towards accreditation. “Our position is that the Council should not be the quality assessor and the service provider in one. The law should relegate the JTC to being the entity for quality assurance not the entity for the provision of the [professional] service. That could lead to unfavourable competition and an unfair advantage in pricing through the monopoly of the market.” Mr Hall says that in the more than a decade since the matter of the JTC emerged, “we [JTA] have run the gamut of activities to keep members informed and defend their interests”. Mr Hall said there have been island-wide consultations with members, discussions in various forums, public statements, and submissions before Parliament and even a protest march. Mr Hall said the JTA had also sat on the committee created by the Ministry of Education for the review of the bill. He said, “The membership is extremely interested in the process.” Mr Hall said: “We have maintained our support for the JTC and the bill, but we have insisted that the safeguards that are inherent in the Education Act be also preserved in this new Jamaica Teaching Council Bill. What the Teaching Council and other bills are seeking to do is to repeal the Education Act (The Education Regulations, 1980) in a piecemeal fashion.” He charged that the Ministry of Education “instead of having a comprehensive relook at the [Education] Act, the aim is to repeal it in piecemeal fashion”. Now that the Parliament’s committee has heard the submissions, the JTA can only wait. “We are hoping that the extremely objectionable sections that we have pointed out and for which we have suggested corrective measures will find their way into the document.” Asked if the JTA was against licensing as a principle, Mr. Hall said: “Certainly not. We have no issues with licensing as a system to strengthen professionalism … However, it cannot be done at a debilitating price. As proposed, it would represent an economic hurdle that we would be unable to bear at this time”. The joint select committee started its deliberations on the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill in 2022. It is said to be far advanced in its work.
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