I can empathise quite easily with Morris McCarthy's views as expressed in his letter published January 26.

I taught high school science for approximately 11 years in Jamaica, prior to emigrating to Canada. I must state that the last four years of teaching was great as the school obtained a grant through the Canadian Inter-national Development Agency, which resulted in the institution receiving millions of Canadian dollars of science equipment and tools necessary for lifting the standard of the subject.

I must also state that, at that school, science and accounts had the best passes at the CXC levels each year during my stint at the institution.

Notwithstanding this fact, I can also attest to the lack of equipment and support in the other high schools I taught in my earlier years - no equipment, lab, etc.

There were also cases where teachers were asked to teach science and mathematics, but not only were they not comfortable in teaching these courses and unqualified for the role, they hated them.

In such dire situation, it's really difficult for students to do well.

How to measure success?

Now, McCarthy indicated his support for teacher performance-driven pay. I would hesitate to encourage any such strategies for the following reasons:

It is going to be extremely difficult to establish measurable criteria for performance of a teacher. Note: if it is the number of courses that a student passes that will be used to attain such measure, how can one be certain that this student's success in the exam results from the teacher's hard work?

Closely linked with number one is how will factors such as home background, heredity, etc., be subtracted or added to arrive at the portion of input by the classroom teacher in the success or lack thereof of the student?

There is also the challenge that is intertwined, embedded, if you will, in the two-tiered secondary system that currently obtains in Jamaica and other parts of the world. It is a fact that the performance of students in exams from the traditional high school is higher than the converted secondary to high institutions - again being tied to class or background, etc.

How will this factor be subtracted or taken into consi-deration in appraising teachers who work in these schools?

Teacher's strategies

If the exam results of students are not the factors that would be used to determine a teacher's performance, what will be used? If it is the teaching methodology, student-centred, hands-on experience, who will determine that the teacher is doing the right thing even in the absence of salient passes in CXC?

Will the teacher's excellent strategies that, under normal conditions, would elicit good grades, in these challenging situations be regarded as being poor, hence impeding any positive performance assessment?

In light of the frequency of corruption in our state, how will it be guaranteed that performances handed out to a teacher is deserved?

For these reasons, and much more, I am quite hesitant to support the proposal to have teachers' salaries linked to performance.

I am, etc.,

JOSHUA SPENCER

joshuaspencer@rogers.com

Ontario, Canada