Opposition Spokesman on Education, Senator Damion Crawford, is calling on the government to fix issues that the People’s National Party, PNP, have identified with the Jamaica Teaching Council, JTC, bill.
The bill was passed in the Senate last week with bipartisan support. It had 38 amendments.
Senator Crawford, who participated in the debate last Friday, led a PNP press conference raising several concerns with aspects of the proposed legislation.
Mahiri Stewart was at the briefing.
The decade-old bill was passed in the Upper House on Friday with unanimous support from both sides of the bench.
The bill seeks to recognise and promote teaching as a profession and to contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning in Jamaica.
In his contribution to the debate on the bill in the Senate on Friday, opposition Senator Damion Crawford raised concerns about some of its contents.
Among the issues he highlighted were the fines for unlicensed teaching, a lack of definition of key terms used in the bill and measures he says restricts teachers from teaching multiple subjects.
Despite his concerns, Senator Crawford and the opposition benches supported the passage of the bill.
But come Tuesday, a group of nine PNP members, with experience in the education sector, echoed the concerns expressed on Friday.
The group was led by Senator Crawford, who stressed to members of the media that the licensing measures in the JTC bill are set to cost teachers hundreds of millions of dollars collectively.
He outlined a number of changes he believes will ease the burden on teachers.
Senator Crawford, who is also the spokesman on education, told Tuesday’s press briefing that the bill has the potential to turn teachers away from the profession.
He says a PNP government will ensure that the discrepancies the party has identified with the bill will be resolved.
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