964 Specialist Teachers May Be Available for New School Year

There are 964 specialist teachers who may be available for employment in public education institutions for the 2022/23 academic year.

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, disclosed the details during a press conference at the Ministry in Kingston, on Monday (August 22).

Citing the resignation of some 167 teachers who tendered notices in July this year, the Minister provided a breakdown of the availability of the new teachers, noting that some of the recent graduates include 111 Early Childhood Education and 259 Primary Education teachers.

Some teachers specialise in double majors, such as Computer Science with Business Education or Mathematics; English Language with English Literature; Accounting with Business Education; Spanish with English or French, as well as Netball with Cricket, Football or Hockey.

“Included in the 964 would be 121 teachers who are on the Ministry’s special scholarship programme. They would have graduated from our teacher training institutions [and are] also expected to take up their positions in the teaching force in September [this year],” she said.

Mrs. Williams pointed out that the participants, who are bonded to the sector for five years, include 67 Mathematics, 32 Physics and Chemistry, and 17 Industrial Education Specialist Teachers.

She added that provisions are also in place for 10 new pre-trained graduate teachers who specialise in Mathematics and Science, under the Ministry’s ‘Build-out Our Science Teachers Programme’.

The Minister said this is a “reverse scholarship-partnership programme” between the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, and the Ministry.

“[It allows for] the services of the best science students [to] be accessed, while school leaders ensure pedological training is provided for these individuals to improve their effectiveness on the job,” she said.

Mrs. Williams said while the Ministry “does not want to lose our experienced teachers”, there is constant renewal in the teaching profession.

“We would love all our teachers to stay until retirement; but that’s not the way the world works. Teachers, like anyone else, will make personal decisions about their lives and opportunities,” she added.

“What is important for us is that we continue to train teachers through our teacher training institutions, [and] offer incentives for them to have specialisation in the various fields that we need them,” the Minister said.