Bartlett
Roy Sanford, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
EDMUND BARTLETT, Member of Parliament for St. James North West, has added his voice to those supporting the Government's proposed performance pay regime for the nation's teachers.
"I think there must be a way to determine how to reward productivity in the teaching profession, and how to ensure that teachers who do a great job are not treated the same way as teachers who do not necessarily produce at the same level," Bartlett said. He was speaking Wednesday at the annual Teachers' Day awards ceremony at the Somerton All-Age School in Montego Bay.
According to Mr. Bartlett, it is important that teachers who perform well be properly remunerated in order that they do not become the 'laughing stock' of the future.
"What is happening is that there is no material reward relating to the level of effort of our teachers," Mr. Bartlett noted. "So it makes education to many a mockery. Young people are asking why should I study if I have to struggle like teachers to meet my supermarket bills and buy a little house when I can do other things."
Recently, Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson announced the start of a pilot project to test the efficacy of performance pay for teachers as a first step to formalising the new regime.
AGREED CRITERIA
The pilot will include regions One and Five which cover Kingston and St. Andrew, Manchester and St. Elizabeth respectively. The core concept of the plan is that those teachers who best achieve the agreed criteria in various aspects of the education process be rewarded with extra pay.
Under the programme, there will be points earned for extra-curricular activities, professional enhancement, administrative co-operation and a general and genuine interest of teachers in the welfare of their charges.
Mr. Bartlett said that while it might be difficult to qualitatively measure performance, he is confident of the nation's ability to measure and evaluate production and productivity and apply it to the teaching profession. "This is very important so that in the end of their days teachers do not reside in puny existence or become mendicants in the society," he said.
Mr. Bartlett also gave his support to the idea of a Master Teacher whom he described as a teacher who has gone beyond the call of duty, has delivered quality tutelage and over the years has developed a mastery of the profession.
