JTA addresses angry Balaclava High teachers

A delegation from the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) addressed teachers at the Balaclava High School in St. Elizabeth on Thursday.

Despite the threat of disciplinary action, the teachers on Thursday morning entered a third day of protest against the appointment of new principal Paula Miller Foster.

JTA President Nadine Molloy Young told RJR News that the Association is hoping for a speedy resolution to the dispute.  

“Two things, we want the teachers to return to classes so the children can continue to access their education,”

“The second thing is we want the concerns as expressed by the teachers to be addressed by the Minister and he did give me and some other members of the JTA executive a commitment yesterday that he would be addressing the matter through a review of the matter and we will be holding him to that,” Mrs. Molloy-Young said.

Take action  

Wednesday Education Minister Andrew Holness declared that he will be asking the School Board to take action against the teachers.

He said if the Board takes no action, then he will act against the board.

That comment irked the JTA, which has said it is uncomfortable with the Minister's stance and will be closely monitoring all action taken to ensure that due process is followed.       

Speaking on Beyond the Headlines yesterday evening, Mr. Holness said he will also review the complaints received against the Principal's appointment.

Students suffer

Meanwhile Opposition Spokesman on Education Senator Basil Waite is also bemoaning the impact the protracted dispute is having on the students' education.

“The opposition is of the view that it is full time that the teachers and administrators ensure that there is a resumption of normal activity at school. We believe there are many other available avenues for the aggrieved parties to seek remedy than to compromise the education of our children. The right of the children to a proper education is being compromised,” Mr. Waite said.

Mr. Waite also asserted that there needs to be a strengthening of School Boards as well as the communication process.  

“We also need to ensure that there is a strengthening of communication between the regional leadership of the Ministry of Education and the head office because the regional office knew it was fuelling tensions for many months now but they failed to escalate the matters sufficiently that the officials at the Ministry’s head office could effectively deal with the matter,” Senator Waite said.