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Teachers untrained - Most educators in wrong subject area, says JTA boss
published: Saturday | August 19, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
Sixty per cent of the approximately 9,000 public sector secondary school teachers are teachingin areas where they were not trained, according to president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Ruel Reid.
"This is a cause for concern because there is going to be a deficit (in the education system) because the person is not a specialist in the area," said Mr. Reid.
The outgoing president, who is also the principal of Jamaica College in St. Andrew, said some primary schools are also operating at a shortfall because some of the teachers are not trained as primary educators. Mr. Reid said the lack of specialist teachers could affect the outcome of students<SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">'</SPAN> performance.
"Everybody say they are teachersbut when it comes on to the challenge, we want effectiveness," he told The Gleaner yesterday.
An English teacher for example, he said, must not only have the content but also the methodology in order to teach.
He added that the education system needed people to deliver the curriculumin an effective way so the learner can understand and not get frustrated and demotivated.
Citing Black River High Schoolin St. Elizabeth, Mr. Reid said schoolperforms well because most of the teachers are better equipped because they are teaching in their trained areas.
Shortage of specialists
In the meantime, Mr. Reid said there may be a shortage of specialist teachers when school reopens in September. He noted that the shortage of these teachers was a perennial problem, especially in the areas of mathematics and science.
Senator Noel Monteith, State Minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth, said while the ministry were aware that some teachers were teaching in areas where they were not trained, it had no control over the problem because there is no law in place to prevent this from happening.
He noted that, when teachers go for interviews at schools, there may not be vacancies in their area of expertise and the administrationaccepts them to work in another area.
"This happens, but it is not something we can exactly control right now," he said.</DIV></DIV>
Teachers untrained - Most educators in wrong subject area, says JTA boss
published: Saturday | August 19, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
Sixty per cent of the approximately 9,000 public sector secondary school teachers are teachingin areas where they were not trained, according to president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Ruel Reid.
"This is a cause for concern because there is going to be a deficit (in the education system) because the person is not a specialist in the area," said Mr. Reid.
The outgoing president, who is also the principal of Jamaica College in St. Andrew, said some primary schools are also operating at a shortfall because some of the teachers are not trained as primary educators. Mr. Reid said the lack of specialist teachers could affect the outcome of students<SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">'</SPAN> performance.
"Everybody say they are teachersbut when it comes on to the challenge, we want effectiveness," he told The Gleaner yesterday.
An English teacher for example, he said, must not only have the content but also the methodology in order to teach.
He added that the education system needed people to deliver the curriculumin an effective way so the learner can understand and not get frustrated and demotivated.
Citing Black River High Schoolin St. Elizabeth, Mr. Reid said schoolperforms well because most of the teachers are better equipped because they are teaching in their trained areas.
Shortage of specialists
In the meantime, Mr. Reid said there may be a shortage of specialist teachers when school reopens in September. He noted that the shortage of these teachers was a perennial problem, especially in the areas of mathematics and science.
Senator Noel Monteith, State Minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth, said while the ministry were aware that some teachers were teaching in areas where they were not trained, it had no control over the problem because there is no law in place to prevent this from happening.
He noted that, when teachers go for interviews at schools, there may not be vacancies in their area of expertise and the administrationaccepts them to work in another area.
"This happens, but it is not something we can exactly control right now," he said.</DIV></DIV>