Education Ministry urges overseas recruitment by teachers' colleges

Jamaica's teachers' colleges are being encouraged to recruit more international students as the education system confronts continued teacher migration and schools work to fill vacancies ahead of the new academic year.

The proposal was discussed during a higher education conference at the Princess Hotel in Hanover. Dr Kasan Troupe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, said overseas demand for Jamaican educators has created staffing difficulties at home.

Jamaican teachers are being recruited for employment in England, Japan and the United States, she said. A survey conducted last year found that 49 per cent of educators who had migrated or were considering migration identified inadequate salaries as their main reason.

Troupe urged teacher-training institutions to develop deliberate partnerships with organisations and schools outside Jamaica. She pointed to an approach pursued by Professor Andrew Spencer, president of the Caribbean Maritime University, as a model that other tertiary institutions could consider.

While some institutions have recorded falling enrolment, CMU has experienced growth in admissions, according to Troupe. She suggested that teachers' colleges could similarly expand their reach by bringing overseas students to Jamaica for training.

Under the proposal, international students would gain knowledge and professional skills through Jamaican programmes before using that training to support their own countries. Troupe believes this could reduce overseas dependence on Jamaican teachers and ease some of the pressure caused by educator departures.

She also said Jamaica should take the quality of its teacher-training institutions into the international market. Greater collaboration with foreign colleges could benefit the country through stronger institutional relationships and access to established programmes needed to modernise the education sector.