The Government has taken a number of steps to ensure that school have an adequate cadre of teachers for the academic year 2023. The strategies include: retaining pre-trained, part-time and retired educators, as well as those on vacation leave. The Government has also allowed schoolboards to make early decisions on staff recruitment.
The Government has also instructed schools to redeploy and train under-utilised staff, merge smaller classes and use available technology to assist with instruction. Additionally, a total of 1123 trained graduates are set to join the education system this year from teachers colleges across Jamaica. The Education Ministry has launched a job bank portal to streamline the process of finding teachers and teaching jobs.
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Gov’t Taking Steps to Engage and Retain Teachers
As the 2023/24 academic year beckons, the Ministry of Education and Youth is taking steps to engage and retain teachers.
Among the strategies to ensure schools are sufficiently staffed on resumption are the engagement of teachers on approved vacation leave, empowering school Boards to take early recruitment decisions, and engaging part-time and retired educators.
The Ministry will also take on pre-trained graduate teachers, redeploy and train underutilised staff, as well as merge smaller classes.
A reduction in the number of teachers resigning or tendering their resignations in the first nine months of 2023, when compared with the corresponding period last year, means that a greater number of staff has been retained.
Addressing a post-Cabinet press briefing on August 30, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, informed that 854 teachers tendered their resignations for the period between January and September.
She indicated, however, that the figure represents a 44 per cent decline relative to the corresponding period in 2022, when approximately 1,538 teachers resigned.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has launched a job bank portal to streamline the process of finding teachers and teaching jobs.
Schools now spend a significant sum to advertise vacancies in newspapers and online.
With the portal, teachers and principals will be able to search and apply for job openings, post their résumés, create a profile to advertise themselves to potential employers, and get an idea of the job requirements and remuneration.
The Education Minister noted that short and long-term positions can be posted on the portal.
The job bank will allow school administrators to post jobs, search for and communicate with potential candidates, view résumés, and shortlist applicants.
