Jamaica Education Ministry opens job portals to recruit foreign teachers

Jamaica: The Ministry of Education and Youth of Jamaica has announced the procedure for recruiting teachers from overseas to fill the gaps left by massive teacher resignations. 

The ministry outlined that such an initiative will be one of the many retention strategies that are used by the ministry for the 2024/2025 academic year that will commence in the month of September.

Terry Ann Thomas Gayle, who is an acting Chief Education Officer on this, has given the statement that the teachers are being sought from various countries. And, the authorities recently have approached several of the nations that are; Nigeria, Ghana, the Philippines and India.

It has been declared by the officer that the country is looking all over. Along with it, highlighted that the question related to this was raised in one of the ministry’s conferences ‘Region Six 2024 Back to School Conference’ which was held at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

This conference was held under the theme “Shaping the Future: STEM/STEAM and the Transformation Agenda.”

With an objective to provide aid to the schools with the recruitment process, in 2023, the Education ministry dispatched various strategies weeks in advance of the academic year. Significantly, the schools already got the approvals to make early recruitment decisions.

Along with it, the green signal was given to the schools for engaging part-time teachers, retired educators and pre-trained graduates in their final year of study. And, the schools were also advised to utilize an array of classroom management tactics, including merging small classes and increasing the use of information communication technology.

On this, the Education officer added that there are several of the areas within the bulletin that will remain. However, the authorities are providing an additional pool from which the schools can select the teachers.

And, the school administrators will be able to use the ministry’s job portal to identify and recruit teachers who are being engaged from the foreign countries.