Policy to ‘weed-out’ unqualified teachers imminent - TSC warns

Policy to ‘weed-out’ unqualified teachers imminent – TSC warns

Feb 05, 2014 News

A strategic policy is currently in the pipeline, aimed at addressing the quality of teachers in the public education system. And according to Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Mrs. Lelia Ramson, “we are imploring all teachers that they have to be trained; you must be trained because there is a policy coming out on that very soon”.

TSC Chairperson,
Leila Ramson

And should teachers not have the relevant qualifications to enter the Cyril Potter College of Education, Ramson said that they will be permitted a timeframe in which to put themselves in order. And oftentimes teachers’ shortcomings are in the areas of Mathematics and English, the TSC Chairperson disclosed.
Teachers who fail to adhere to the looming policy being touted by the TSC will in fact suffer the resulting consequence which would more than likely “see us deciding how to handle that,” Ramson intimated during an interview with this publication yesterday.
Although the policy will see efforts being intensified to have teachers fully qualified to teach the nation’s children, the TSC Chairperson disclosed that the sector is currently at a stage where most educators are well-trained.
“We have a lot more trained teachers now than we have had in about three or four years,” said Ramson, who attributed this development to moves by both Central Ministry and the TSC to amplify the notion that they must be trained once they are in the system.
In fact, she boasted that about 98 per cent of the teachers being plugged into the system now are in fact qualified with Maths and English, even as she noted that there are a few without these crucial subject areas who are permitted entry too.
And there is a reason for that, as according to Ramson, “for example Home Economics, Spanish and these things are rare areas where sometimes you don’t find the teachers and you are forced to put in a teacher who doesn’t have either English or Maths. They are then given a ‘closed-appointment’ for about a year so that they can get themselves in order,” said Ramsom.
If teachers are not able to secure passes in the relevant subject areas within the stipulated period, Ramson disclosed that there is no way that they will be permitted to remain in the system.
“Regardless of the levels – nursery, primary or secondary – that teachers are at, they are all expected to have passes in English and Maths; it is absolutely necessary,” warned Ramson.
Currently the TSC is awaiting word from the Ministry of Education before making preparations to publicise its senior teachers’ promotion list for this year. However, Ramson is hopeful that the list will be published by February 16, once all Regions are able to furnish the Commission with all vacant positions.
“We are hoping that we can keep that deadline,” Ramson disclosed.
Teachers are eligible for promotions, the TSC Chairperson said, based on a points system which can vary from teacher to teacher. It however could take into consideration teachers’ years of service, individual performances, as well as the extent of their qualifications.
“We look at whether you are a graduate, whether you have a Master’s Degree, etcetera…All of that helps you to get certain points,” said Ramson who also disclosed that points can also be accumulated if teachers from the coastland would have opted to work in the hinterland communities over a period of time.
She disclosed that while all levels of teachers at the Grades C, D and E schools are promoted based on the points system, at the Grades A and B Schools, teachers are promoted based on interviews. These interviews, Ramson disclosed, are conducted to ascertain the eligibility of teachers to be promoted to the various vacant levels. All such interviews are conducted at the TSC’s Brickdam, Georgetown office, and according to Ramson, “based on the results of those interviews, that is how they are placed in the schools.”
A primary requirement for the placement of Head Teachers, Ramson said, is that of management skills. She amplified the fact that “the Head Teacher is a manager, who is tasked with managing an entire school, and the strength of that teacher is very important…but we are guided by their records, their qualifications, which would determine whether they are able to head a Grade A or B School.”