NEW YORK:
JAMAICA, HERE they come! Even though some don't really want to at least not now.
One teacher recruit, Simone, vows not to stay in Jamaica for too long. Already she is looking at how to get into the Cayman Islands, or any of the other Caribbean islands.
Going home in July will be bittersweet for her. She wanted to go back in style not like a deportee: broke, and to be dependent on family.
She is broke as she has used up all her savings to pay off a 'grant' and student's loan that does not exist, even though the Government has outstanding money due to her.
A former teacher of a secondary school in Kingston, she was one of the thousands who were laid off in 2001 after the Ministry of Education had declared that there were too many teachers in the system. Ironically, she had just returned to the classroom two years before, after completing a business management degree at the University of the West Indies.
She was one of several teachers represented by the Jamaica Teachers Association in a court action against the Ministry for non-payment of salaries and illegal dismissal.
The Government, she said, owed her $400,000. She has never received a dime. She was cleared by the Ministry of all obligations and received a letter to substantiate that.
NOT INDEBTED
The letter from the Ministry said, in part, "this is to certify that (name omitted) has been employed to the Government teaching service since September 1994. She's permanently reemployed as a graduate teacher on staff of (name of school omitted). She is not indebted, nor bonded to the Government of Jamaica. Her service as a teacher has never been suspended nor revoked."
When the opportunity arose for the recruitment, the unemployed teacher literally jumped at the opportunity.
"I repeatedly brought the matter up of money outstanding, and the fact that I was laid off before my bond period had expired, and I was told that that would not have any bearing on the recruitment," she said. "I was granted a waiver and I got the letter clearing me of all debts."
Fast-forward to three years later. The young, single teacher applied for the H-1B visa which would allow her to continue in the New York school system. In June 2003, she said she checked the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Web site, and her file stated "received and granted." In December 2003, she received a letter from the Jamaican Embassy in Washington stating they had given instruction to rescind the waiver as money was outstanding to the Jamaican Government.
"I immediately called the embassy and spoke with one Althea O'Sullivan, who said the Ministry said I owed $400,000," she said.
BOUGHT MONEY ORDER
"I went and bought a money order for $600 and gave to one of the teachers who had to go home. I know they got the money as I have all my receipts. I know that I was paying money that I did not owe but I was willing to do so to clear things up," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
In February this year she checked the Web site again, following numerous telephone calls "You should see my phone bills!" and there it was... "unacceptable".
"How would you feel, my status changed from received to unacceptable," she asked.
She was told by a Ms. Pinnock in the Ministry of Finance that she had an outstanding sum of $30,000 for student loan, plus the money she received as a grant.
"They said they wanted the grant money back, I couldn't believe that. It was a grant, not a loan," she emphasised.
Further talks and discussions, she thought, would have resolved the matter. In March she was told the matter "was cleared" and the letter would be sent to Washington.
It doesn't matter now anyway. At the end of July, she has to pack her bags and bid her friends bon voyage. But wait!! She has a three-year lease on her home. She has to pay off the landlord the remaining two years money at $700 per month or find someone to take over the lease. If not, she could be sued.
"I don't know what to do really. I am disappointed. I came here and worked three jobs, fall asleep on the train, struggle in the winter, get my Master's in Business and started another in Special Education. I am going to try and go to another country, England, Bermuda, or Cayman, as I am not going back to Jamaica to demand no job. I am broke, and that is embarrassing."
