CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – A senior official of the St Lucia-based Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat has described the problem of trained teachers migrating from the region as a serious state of affairs.
Head of OECS Reform, Marcus Albertine, stressed the point, noting that a study of teachers in the nine-country OECS revealed that the attrition rate is as high as seven per cent in some countries.
“This is a serious state of affairs when you have seven per cent, especially of your qualified staff, leaving to go and practice elsewhere in a situation where resources are so scarce,” Albertine said at a just-ended two-day meeting of regional education officials here.
“I think we have to get serious about doing everything we can to retain the teachers we have trained,” he said, emphasising that there are constraints in identifying resources to continuously train teachers.
Registrar of the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Dr Didicus Jules, agreed that the virtual haemorrhaging of teachers from the Eastern Caribbean to developed countries was a matter worthy of serious attention.
“People do not migrate simply because they want to leave their country, but they leave to take up better opportunities abroad and it is very difficult for government ministries to think of competing with the kind of salaries that are being offered in these more developed destinations,” Jules said.
“So it requires some creative thinking and rethinking of the kinds of policies that can be put in place to achieve a win-win situation on both sides, that will allow for teachers to go but come back to continue making a contribution to education in their respective countries,” he added.
The meeting was called for officials to produce a document outlining a plan of action to retain teachers, many of whom have been seeking more lucrative opportunities in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The document is intended to address the quality issues currently affecting education in the sub-region, including matters of recruitment, professional development, and conditions of service. The expectation is that it would be adjusted to the individual circumstances of each country.
Every change that has to be implemented at the age group 0-17years or so the teacher or the school is involved.They (most of them) work harder than slaves. I am elated they have come to realize that words of platitude can’t buy them a pound of dolphin.BIG UP TO THOSE OF YOU WHO CAN LEAVE!!!
BEFORE TIMES AS A TEACHER, IT WAS ,”GOD WILL BLESS YOU. YOU WILL
RECEIVE YOUR FLOWERS IN HEAVEN”
I NEED MY FLOWERS AND BLESSING RIGHT HERE. IT LOOKS LIKE VOLUNTARY WORK
TEACHERS ARE ENGAGED IN. TEACHERS NEED TO BE PAID SQUARELY.
THEY ARE PRODUCING GOOD FRUITS OUT THERE.
AND IF THEY ARE NOT PAID A SATISFACTORY WAGE , DON’T BLAME THEM.
THEY WILL FIND IT ELSEWHERE!
Teachers in DA cant buy a pair of shoes to wear on their feet.Some go to work without breakfast.A hand to mouth salary.Yet you are hearing nonsense from education officials who should know better.
low pay, poor conditions, and insults from the Chief Education Officer.
Pay us a decent salary then maybe we won’t leave. Personally i rather teach D/can/ Caribbean children rather than an external group, but hey, if externally is where the money is , then everybody has to make a decent living. I must look into that.