Dear Editor,
I am writing on behalf of the many early childhood (EC) teachers across Jamaica to request a meeting with the Minister of Education and/or the Prime Minister. We, the EC teachers of Jamaica, are facing harsh economic times. We, like all other Jamaicans, are willing to tighten our belts to see Jamaica through economic hardships, but sadly our belts have long surpassed the last belt hole.
The truth is that we are paid between $14,000 and $25,000 monthly, which is a subsidy from the Ministry of Education. Our school fees are kept low because the parents would simply keep their little ones at home until primary school if they were increased. These fees can barely stretch to cover salaries, maintenance, and utilities. As a result, many schools can only afford to pay staff a meagre salary, even as low as $5,000 monthly, if at all.
Many of our institutions have staff who are college-trained, but even they are paid these same meagre salaries. Our work is no different from that of teachers in primary and high schools. How then can it be fair for us to be paid less than they are? Are we less important? EC teachers in infant schools and departments are paid the same as those in primary and high schools, while doing the same job we do. There are not enough infant schools or departments or you can be sure we would be working there already and earning our fair salary!
Our meagre salaries can neither meet our daily needs nor allow us to plan for the future. We cannot afford health care as we have no health plans. We have no pension to look forward to. Saving is impossible as we have children in school, and we have no hope of ever owning a decent home on our current salaries. We love what we do; otherwise we would have given up already.
I am of the firm opinion that the education system should not be fragmented, but should exist as a whole. If transformation is to come to Jamaica's education system, then the needs of all sectors of the system need to be addressed. I applaud the work of the Early Childhood Commission in addressing the institutional needs. However, who is addressing the needs of the practitioners who labour in these institutions each day? We, the early childhood practitioners of Jamaica, continue to languish with the hope that better will come for us, and soon.
We need an end to our current economic distress. Our main requests are as follows:
1. Recognition by the MoE for all trained teachers currently working in ECIs;
2. An increase in subsidies across the board for all EC practitioners;
3. Access by EC practitioners to the government health insurance scheme; and
4. Access by EC practitioners to the government pension scheme.
These, we believe, are more than reasonable requests for any individual who would qualify under the term 'teacher'. We eagerly await some response before this current wage freeze proves the straw which breaks our backs.
Yours truly,
Concerned Early Childhood Practitioners
How do we survive on $25,000 a month?
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I am writing on behalf of the many early childhood (EC) teachers across Jamaica to request a meeting with the Minister of Education and/or the Prime Minister. We, the EC teachers of Jamaica, are facing harsh economic times. We, like all other Jamaicans, are willing to tighten our belts to see Jamaica through economic hardships, but sadly our belts have long surpassed the last belt hole.
The truth is that we are paid between $14,000 and $25,000 monthly, which is a subsidy from the Ministry of Education. Our school fees are kept low because the parents would simply keep their little ones at home until primary school if they were increased. These fees can barely stretch to cover salaries, maintenance, and utilities. As a result, many schools can only afford to pay staff a meagre salary, even as low as $5,000 monthly, if at all.
Many of our institutions have staff who are college-trained, but even they are paid these same meagre salaries. Our work is no different from that of teachers in primary and high schools. How then can it be fair for us to be paid less than they are? Are we less important? EC teachers in infant schools and departments are paid the same as those in primary and high schools, while doing the same job we do. There are not enough infant schools or departments or you can be sure we would be working there already and earning our fair salary!
Our meagre salaries can neither meet our daily needs nor allow us to plan for the future. We cannot afford health care as we have no health plans. We have no pension to look forward to. Saving is impossible as we have children in school, and we have no hope of ever owning a decent home on our current salaries. We love what we do; otherwise we would have given up already.
I am of the firm opinion that the education system should not be fragmented, but should exist as a whole. If transformation is to come to Jamaica's education system, then the needs of all sectors of the system need to be addressed. I applaud the work of the Early Childhood Commission in addressing the institutional needs. However, who is addressing the needs of the practitioners who labour in these institutions each day? We, the early childhood practitioners of Jamaica, continue to languish with the hope that better will come for us, and soon.
We need an end to our current economic distress. Our main requests are as follows:
1. Recognition by the MoE for all trained teachers currently working in ECIs;
2. An increase in subsidies across the board for all EC practitioners;
3. Access by EC practitioners to the government health insurance scheme; and
4. Access by EC practitioners to the government pension scheme.
These, we believe, are more than reasonable requests for any individual who would qualify under the term 'teacher'. We eagerly await some response before this current wage freeze proves the straw which breaks our backs.
Yours truly,
Concerned Early Childhood Practitioners
How do we survive on $25,000 a month?
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