TSC awaits request from Ministry for specialist teachers

Sep 08, 2009 News

By Sharmain Cornette

Although there is a shortage of teachers for the subject areas of Mathematics and Science in the public education system, the Ministry of Education is yet to make a request for aptly qualified teachers to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).

This disclosure was made by Chairman of the Commission, Mrs Leila Ramson, during an interview with this newspaper yesterday. However, Ramson is of the belief that requests are likely to be forthcoming this term. She explained that the Ministry is not tasked with making the initial request, but rather the various Regions through their Regional Education Officer (REO).

“They are the ones that would know what the existing vacancies in the various schools are and the onus is on them (REO) to then pass this information on to the Ministry, which in turn will make a request to the Commission.”

And according to Ramson, the existing vacancies in some schools are likely to increase with the recent promotion of hundreds of teachers which would have in effect created several more vacant positions.

The TSC is tasked with finding suitably qualified teachers to fill the respective subject areas, a mission which cannot be carried out without a request, Ramson noted.

It was just last month that the Commission had promoted almost 800 teachers and had commenced preparation of letters of introduction for the promoted teachers who were expected to take up their posts at the various schools this term.

Additionally, Ramson revealed that the Commission was awaiting the list of recently graduated students from the Cyril Potter College of Education so that introduction letters could have also been prepared for them to commence operation.

Recently, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Pulandar Kandhi, noted that the shortage of trained Mathematics teachers in the public education sector has resulted in another year of unsatisfactory performance in the subject area at this year’s sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

According to Kandhi, candidates’ performances in Mathematics continue to be an area of immense concern to the Education Ministry, although there has been an increase in the grade one to three pass rate when compared to last year.

The overall performances in Mathematics saw 31.46 percent of the candidates passing the subject this year. The subject, as a result, falls among five other areas in which unsatisfactory performances were recorded. Other subject areas of concern include Caribbean History which saw a 43.76 percent pass rate, English B with a 38.4 percent pass rate, Geography with a 44.75 percent pass rate, Information Technology – General with a 12.5 percent pass rate and Electrical and Technology with a 49.81 percent pass rate.

But although poor performances in Mathematics is a reflection of the shortage of teachers, Kandhi related that there is no single cause for poor performances in the other subject areas which fell within the unsatisfactory category.

“I want to suggest that there is no single causation for poor performances. There are many variables. You could find in one class you have some students doing very well, some are average, and some don’t do well at all. Then we have to find what is the cause, there may be multiple causations,” Kandhi speculated.

However, he admitted that the school system does in fact have weaknesses in its capacity as it relates to the absence of trained teachers in many schools. And this he said is a problem which the Ministry is earnestly trying to overcome.