WESTERN BUREAU:
Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison says the association is waiting patiently to see the revised Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill before they are tabled, following assurances from Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon that the Government has accepted and acted on several of the teachers’ concerns.
Morris Dixon said the Government’s legal teams are now finalising the amendments after she personally reviewed the JTA’s submission.
“After that, I took all the concerns, I read them myself, went through the bill, wrote on the bill, ‘I agree with this from the JTA, we should do this,’ and have made changes,” the minister said yesterday at the JTA’s 62nd annual conference.
She said the revised bill would be shared with the JTA before they are tabled.
Harrison is, however, reserving judgement until the JTA sees the revised documents and has an opportunity to engage with the ministry.
“We await the facilitation of a meeting with us based on the amendments that have been shared,” Harrison said.
“If my hearing was clear enough to recall her to say that the last submission made has been treated with. When we get the document, we will see,” she added.
Morris Dixon said the amendments followed a period of consultation during which the JTA was given additional time to review the legislation with its executive and attorneys.
“They did write us back and say, can we get some extra time to go back through the bill to finalise our work? I said ‘Absolutely’,” she said.
According to the minister, the process has resulted in significant changes to the legislation.
“Almost everything that was asked, I have made adjustments to the bill, and so we are finalising the bill now to table it,” Morris Dixon said.
She described the revised legislation as evidence that the Government had listened to the teachers’ representatives.
“This new version of the bill has been done [after] listening,” she said.
Morris Dixon also insisted that the JTA has been involved in the process.
“Yes, the JTA has been engaged on the JTC Bill,” she said.
albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com
