Finally, the two decades-long Teaching Council Bill is being debated to arrive at a consensus ahead of its legislation.

Though it has been long in coming, it is very timely, especially as it is somewhat concurrent with the release of the education task force report recently submitted by Professor Orlando Patterson and his team. Still, we are yet to have national dialogue surrounding the findings of this report and the implications for teaching, learning, and training, among other things. At the moment, stakeholders in the industry, including universities and colleges, have barely uttered a word.

How serious are we about the education of our nation?

Since discussions around the Bill started, there has been fierce defence put up by various important figures in the teaching profession. President of the Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica Dr Garth Anderson opined that there is no need to police the teachers; instead, what is needed is to further professionalise the profession. He expressed that, though he supports the intent of the Bill, which is to set standards and guide the profession, many teachers feel that the Bill primarily seeks to criminalise teachers.

Teachers often feel that they cannot catch a break. They are in the spotlight all year round and have to deal with unruly students, overcrowded classes, limited resources, inadequate compensation, and difficult administrators. Understandably, adding this Bill to their daily ‘miseries’ will only make their job more burdensome. Nonetheless, it is important to have oversight of the profession.

One of the concerns raised is that other professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, and police officers, do not receive such rigid oversight from the Government. However, these groups do have supervisory bodies that monitor them scrupulously. Where I tend to agree with my colleagues is with regard to the number of proposed individuals outside of the teaching profession who would sit on the oversight committee. Otherwise, people seem fearful that some of the failures of teachers, including teacher trainers, may be highlighted.

Too many teachers are being paid taxpayers’ money monthly, yet they are not at the service of the students, their primary responsibility. It always puzzled me how some educators were allowed to remain in the system until retirement, even after scoring terribly on student reviews and appraisals. Some of them are woefully incompetent, even at the tertiary level. Perhaps, if certain conditions were attached to their employment, they would perform better.

Recently, in Parliament, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association was invited to air its concerns about the Bill. Its president, Winston Smith, shared his discomfort with the definition used to characterise a teacher, noting that it would automatically exclude certain specialists as well as teachers who only have a diploma or a certificate. In terms of qualifications, the Bill proposes that a teacher is anyone with a bachelor of education or a first degree with a postgraduate diploma in teaching.

Smith is right that this clause may cause loss of employment based on how it is presented. However, in 2022, we should not feel comfortable that some of our colleagues do not possess at least a first degree. What is worse, some of these individuals have been in the system for years and have made little effort to upskill themselves. By no means am I suggesting that they are necessarily incompetent and that upgrading to a degree would make any meaningful changes, given that many of the teachers’ colleges’ lecturers and programmes need improvement themselves; however, there ought to be a minimum standard for everybody.

One of the criticisms that the teaching profession has faced over the years is that there is no fixed entry requirements, like some other professions. Jamaica must get to the level at which it is in line with international practice. What is hypocritical is that many of us would ensure that we get the necessary qualifications to work in other countries.

In France, teachers take a competitive exam in their subject area to enter the profession. In Canada, teachers must obtain a licence. For example, in the province of Ontario, they require the Ontario Teacher’s Certificate (OTC). We cannot want First World-type education when we have these deficiencies in the system. Should Jamaica forever remain a patty shop?

While we are at it, the relevant bodies should do an audit of the teachers’ colleges. There is a serious quality control issue taking place. We have many students graduating yearly with high honours, yet these beautiful grades are not reflected in their competency or pedagogy.

Oneil Madden is a PhD candidate in didactics and linguistics at the Université Clermont Auvergne, France, and president of the Association of Jamaican Nationals in France (JAMINFRANCE). Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or oneil.madden@uca.fr.