Plans Far Advanced to Fill Vacancies in Schools

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Dr. Kasan Troupe, has informed that the Ministry is far advanced in its plans to recruit overseas teachers to fill vacancies in the school system for the upcoming school year.

Dr. Troupe made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press briefing held recently at Jamaica House.

“We have a number of international organisations that have been in Jamaica recruiting, but interestingly as we are trying to put our response together for this year, we have been addressed by other countries. Actually, they came to us indicating that Jamaica is a lovely place, they have an oversupply of teachers, and they would want their teachers to have the opportunity to serve in Jamaica,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary informed that the Ministry did its research and has found that other countries and international organisations have also recruited from these spaces.

Dr. Troupe pointed out that the Ambassadors from the Philippines and Ghana have, so far, met with personnel from the Ministry.

“The Ambassador from Ghana has indicated that a team will be in Jamaica in the week of the 11th of August to finalise conversations with us, as to access to their teachers in Ghana. What is interesting with this discussion is that they are interested in working for the same emoluments as we offer our teachers in Jamaica, nothing more,” she noted.

“In some instances, we are getting a number of volunteers who have also expressed some interest in being deployed to assist with our shortage that we have right here in Jamaica and predominantly in areas [of] mathematics and the sciences,” she added.

‘Dr. Troupe also informed that 75 persons under the Cuban Programme will be returning to Jamaica to start the upcoming school year.

“In addition to that, we have nationals, some 15 other countries right here in Jamaica. So, that’s about 90 persons already serving in our education system and a number of those persons were recruited through schools, with the Ministry’s blessing. So, those persons are already deployed, and they are from the United States of America, the Philippines, Nigeria, India and a number of other countries,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Troupe said the recruitment of overseas teachers is a way to provide options to school Boards to hire teachers.

“As for the education regulation, the recruitment is really the remit of our Boards of management. Our responsibility, as a Ministry, is to provide options for our principals. Our Chief Education Officer did a survey trying to solicit or to obtain the interest of our principals and school Boards in utilising this opportunity and I must say we have got tremendous response from our school principals, and we used that data to have the conversation with our international partners,” she added.

Dr. Troupe said that while the Ministry is not forcing any school, “our schools must have options as they try to make sure that their staff members are in place for the new academic year”.

“So, we are advanced, and we are grateful for the opportunity for other persons to see what we have to offer as a country and try to access that as we advance the education mission,” she said.