Georgetown : The Ministry of Education is on a mission to encourage public schools not only to embrace but to incorporate the concept of substitute and part-time teachers in the system with a view of ensuring that the ideal delivery of education is not hampered. According to Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, “right now the Minister (Ms Priya Manickchand) already has a proposal and she is just waiting for the go ahead to have substitute teachers in the schools.”
This move, according to Sam, is to ensure that every Grade A and B school is furnished with administrative support should the need arise. Several teachers have been raising concerns about lack of teachers to attend to some classes and according to Sam, “we have not been silent to your pleas and concerns. We have all of these papers prepared and the Minister is now committing to carrying them to Cabinet for approval to make sure that these things happen so you will get the additional support in your institution.”
This move is especially essential, Sam said, since it has been recognized that the school system has predominantly female teachers who are likely to require maternity leave and would therefore be away from duty for extended periods. During such periods “I would like to know we have substitute or part-time teachers there so that we can fill the gap particularly at the primary level,” he stressed.
This, however, is not to say that there is not a similar need at the secondary level, according to Sam, who pointed out that “I would like to remind the secondary schools that you can hire part-time teachers something that many of our secondary schools do not do…Every single secondary school can hire part-time staff,” Sam insisted.
Part-time staff, he said, could become applicable when permanent teachers go off on Whitley Council leave, maternity leave or are required to be off due to medical emergencies. As such Sam urged that teachers engage their respective head teachers during departmental meetings so that these measures could be incorporated in the school system and become a functional reality.
According to Sam there is a structure for payment through the Ministry of Education for part-time teachers which does not apply to the regular teacher vacancies. He further expressed his belief that this mode of support will have to be incorporated in the system sooner rather than later in the secondary schools to help address reported teachers’ shortage. On the other hand, he noted that “for the substitute (teachers) I am concerned that we might have to focus on the primary level only because I feel that there is a greater harm in the teacher being out at the primary level when you have to distribute pupils into classes…so I really think the substitutes are needed at the primary level,” Sam asserted.
