‘Extremely alarming’ the number of new teachers needed by Sept 2023– Hon deCastro
Hon deCastro made the revelations while a guest of Talking Points aired on ZBVI 780AM on June 5, 2023.
This she said has prompted a need for the Ministry to prioritise professional development for teachers and other moves to retain current teachers.
“I’m going to be making a statement in the House [of Assembly] very soon about the number of teachers we have to find between now and September and it's actually extremely alarming, the young Minister stated, positing that the situation is due to teachers retiring and others leaving.
Hon de Castro added that regionally, teachers in the Cayman Islands, for example, get a starting salary of about $70,000 while in the neighbouring US Virgin Islands (USVI) it is $50, 000 starting August 2023.
The Minister revealed that in the VI the starting salary is $31, 000 for a qualified teacher and said as such, some of the teachers in the VI have left to take up better opportunities from regional neighbours.
Salary review talks ongoing- Hon deCastro
“Of course, we're having the conversation about salary review… what we want to do is tell teachers in the system...we are happy that they are here, and they are producing," she added.
"But what we can question is the quality and how we can fix that is through professional development and training,” she said.
Meanwhile, Hon deCastro said professional development and training are now mandatory as introduced in the last school year and more opportunities are to come for new and existing teachers on various qualification levels.
Over in the USVI, Governor Albert A. Bryan Jr first spoke about raising the starting pay for teachers to $50,000 during his fifth State of the Territory Address as governor on Monday, January 23, 2023.
"It is downright ridiculous that our teachers are working second jobs to meet their needs instead of earning that money to enrich our children. We have the money; we will pay the teachers," he had said.
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45 Responses to “‘Extremely alarming’ the number of new teachers needed by Sept 2023– Hon deCastro ”
Sharie, chill out! Stop complain and do the people wuk. We going get back to you after the party Sowande keeping for us and what money leave back you could give them greedy teachers. Some of them want to be driving Benz and Audi instead of teaching the chilren so them need to go.
Moreover, did some leadership and leadership oversight occur? Did we not know and anticipate that a number of teachers were approaching retirement age and strategic planning was needed? Did we not also know that a number of teachers are under contract and some of those contracts are approaching their lifecycles and urgent action would be needed? Why is everything in the VI always have to become crisis to get address? Does this crisis management produce the best outcomes?
Further, education, technology, etc, are critical to the VI growth, development, resilience and sustainability. Consequently, the VI needs a constant flow of well -trained, -educated, functional, and competitive workforce. The MEC plays a key, vital and critical role in developing and providing this trained and educated work force. This will require developing the relevant curriculum to meet VI needs, investing in education, providing competitive benefits for educators, etc. Clearly, there is a short-term and longer-term need. For the short-term, a tiger team is needed to craft a plan to get through the next few months. Suggest engaging Dr. Charles W. Wheatley, one of the preeminent educators in the territory for assistance. For both short and long term, HLSCC should be engaged to expedite the training and certifying of teachers.
hopefully Lorna will make it a priority ...
thankyou
Education.....Health.... etc
You are right in that he recruited the best and brightest and compensated them well. This included non-Singaporeans in the early days (e.g. the economist from Europe...his name escapes me now). There was and I believe still is a heavy focus on meritocracy...people are appointed based on merit not based on political or familial connections. There is a lot we can learn from Singapore but it takes the right leader and the right structure. You have to make very tough decisions in the best interest of the people in the long-run.
At one time, I can be corrected, based on our population, the VI had the highest percentage of educated people in the Caribbean (docturates included). Maybe it's still so?
I agree that presently, teachers working in the VI go through a lot from students...insolence, disrespect, don't care attitude, generally not desciplined... What do the teachers do? Do it all over again - different day same... BUT is this attitude being directed to expat teachers from solely 'born heres' especially when the population factor is taken into account?
It's time for persons to stop bashing 'born here' and do an informal survey of the demographics of our school-age population. This will answer many questions.
In my opinion government needs to get that census done and institute population control. Address the darn 4000 pound elephant in the room!
A native Virgin Islander to the Nth generation
???? , PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US ON HOW THE ( 40 ) WAS INVESTED / OR WHERE IT WENT