Teachers anxious about new wage negotiations

Cameron

THE 38TH Annual Conference of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) began yesterday at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort with teachers expressing concern over the Government's delay in responding to salary proposals for the 2002-2004 contract year.

It is customary at each annual conference for the Government's recommendations to be presented to members for discussion, but for this year, the report of the Government's Permanent Salaries Review Board (PSRB) will not be known until Friday, two days after the conference ends.

The JTA had put forward a 30-point proposal to Government, including proposed salary increases of 30 per cent in the first year and 30 per cent in year two, in addition to various allowances for travelling, housing and their own personal protection, as well as requests for loans to acquire motor vehicles and necessary teaching aids, including computers.

Secretary-general of the JTA, Dr. Adolph Cameron, admitted that the absence of a recommendation from the PSRB would not go down well with the delegates attending the conference.

Dr. Cameron explained that the negotiations began late and it is expected that the PSRB report will not be presented before Friday.

However, chairman of the JTA's Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee, Byron Farquharson, feels that the Government could have acted more speedily to the JTA's requests. Noting that the negotiating process had been long and drawn-out, Mr. Farquharson, in his report to the conference, said that while it took the JTA 20 days from June 4, 2002 to June 24, 2002 to conclude its presentation, the Government's response was not made until August 13, 2002, which was then sent to the PSRB for approval.

Mr. Farquharson said the JTA believes very strongly that until the Government pays the teachers better salaries and improves the conditions under which they work, the profession will continue to experience exoduses from the classrooms.

The conference, which is being held under the theme, 'Information technology and the delivery of quality education', was addressed at Monday's opening session by UWI lecturer in instructional design technology, Dr. Moses Peart, who expressed the need for a clearly articulated technology in education policy in Jamaica. He said putting new technology in the hands of students is not enough because there are some distinct roles that the teachers have to play.

By Devon Evans, Freelance Writer
source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20020820/lead/lead2.html