Dear Editor,

In the Observer of April 24, you carried an article that spoke to the intent of Jamaica’s teachers to embark on a go-slow. Some may argue that the government cannot afford to pay and that teachers are cruel in their intention to hold back on students. In extending this point, they may even argue that such actions will only result in the swelling of local gangs and their being implicated in more wrongdoings, the plight of our teachers, and the overall implication of the human resource potential of our society. However, there can be no denying that the PM’s stubbornness is bound to be at the country’s peril in the long run.This approach by the government is at best shortsighted – not to mention, unjust. Not to pay, is not merely playing with teachers but is tantamount to the basketball referee crying foul when in fact there was no infringement on the part of the players.

Those who argue on the side of government and conversely against our local teachers, probably have a point in their pronouncement (question) that if the teachers are in a mood to withhold their services, the youth are bound to be adversely affected.

Probably though, the more salient questions that need to be posed and addressed by the powers-that-be are: (1) If teachers continue to be drastically underpaid compared to those in other parts of the world, what quality teachers will Jamaica be able to attract to the profession? (2) If those who choose to be attracted to the profession at home are the least successful, least qualified and are demotivated, what quality students will they graduate into the field of work, for the profession and for tertiary training? (3) How will this reality affect the development and economic growth of Jamaica in the long run? (4) Are the powers-that-be not being “pennywise and pound foolish” every moment that they delay the inevitable move to acquire the necessary funds (from the IMF, even, since we have gone back into the debt/death trap) to remunerate our teachers, so we can have high-calibre educators who will lift the skills and knowledge base of our people, thus creating a more productive nation?

It’s disgraceful that any hotel worker, requiring no education, taking out the garbage and wiping down the windows, say, in Canda, earns significantly more than our Jamaican principals and education officers! No wonder there is this rush for green cards and residency abroad and a false view that everything foreign is better. This fact leads to the high attrition rate among the best of our professions, in particular in teaching, nursing and medicine.

Mr Golding, the ball is certainly now in your court with respect to the matter of teachers’ salaries and the question of paying up what is due to them through a binding contract. This time, though, there is an irony! You can’t be playing with this ball. Serious attention and skills are demanded and required. Let good sense prevail. You just can’t afford to be “pennywise and pound foolish” in a matter as grave as this one is, or can you?

Joshua Spencer

Toronto

Canada