Maurice Saunders
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Maurice Saunders and MP Natalie Campbell Rodriques
Persons who do private tutoring and homeschooling want to be left alone to continue those practices without the requirement to become licensed when the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill comes into force.
The Bill seeks to ensure all persons who teach are licensed and registered to do so and covers individuals in private and public settings.
However, Maurice Saunders, the representative of private tutors and homeschooling parents, on Thursday told the parliamentary committee examining the Bill that there are many instances in which neighbours conduct summer school, or older children act as tutors, and these practices have been successful and should not be interfered with.
Calling it an overreach, Mr. Saunders argued that any requirement for private tutors and those who homeschool to be licensed was a case of trying to "fix something that is not in need of fixing".
He added that the requirements in the Bill could stifle the demand for such services, drive persons underground, and could adversely affect students and their ability to exchange and access information.
Mr. Saunders, who is also an attorney, said the restrictions the Bill places on extra lessons by untrained teachers could also be in breach of the constitutional right to freedom of expression, thought and exchange of ideas.
Citing Section 13 subsection 3 (c) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Constitution, Mr. Saunders pointed to "the right to seek, receive, distribute, disseminate information, opinions, and ideas through any media."
But Member of Parliament Natalie Campbell Rodriques said she disagreed with the suggestion that persons who homeschool children should not be required to be licensed.
She said she was "100 per cent against" having untrained persons teaching primary or early childhood students. But she would support a proposal for untrained tutors for students in high school and tertiary institutions to be given a special licence to indicate their status as tutors.
Mrs Campbell Rodriques said she was convinced that parents would make the best decision for their children and "in areas where enough teachers exist, the parents will choose the trained teacher".
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