By Erica James-King, Senior Staff Reporter
Whiteman
WESTERN BUREAU :
THE MINISTRY of Education has set April 15, as D-Day for teachers who were laid off enmasse during the 2000/2001 academic year, to return to the classroom or lose their jobs.
Education Minister Burchell Whiteman made the disclosure recently, in an interview with The Gleaner, following his participation in the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) conference on Educational Adminis-tration and Supervision, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James. The conference is being held over three days.
Mr. Whiteman said that all teachers who were affected by the rationalisation, who have not relocated to another school, were advised to report for duties at their respective schools. He said that any teacher who is unable to resume by the date specified, must immediately communicate in writing with the Education Ministry.
After a case brought to the judiciary by the Jamaica Teachers As-sociation, The Court of Appeal had ruled in December that all the teachers who were axed from their jobs owing to overstaffing and the rationalisation exercise, should be reinstated.
"As a result of the court case, people (affected teachers) have a right to resume their jobs, whether they were actually named in the court case or not. The fact is that they have to report for duties by April 15, otherwise they are declaring by their inaction that they have accepted the status that they are now in, and that they no longer have an interest in resumption," Mr. Whiteman said.
NORMAL DUTIES
However, most of those teachers have resumed normal duties in their respective schools, according, Millicent Buylding, Senior Secretary General for Teachers and School Services with the JTA. "In some cases teachers have not returned to their old school, because they had gotten employment at other public schools before the Court Ruling and have expressed an interest in remaining in their new jobs," she said. "They have, however, being as-sured by the Ministry that they will be paid for the time that they were unemployed."
She added, "We even have people on full-time study who have broken their study time to go back to their former jobs in the classroom."
Mrs. Buylding said that her organisation will be trying to reach some teachers who might still be in the dark about the Court Ruling.
"There might be a few people out there who are not aware of the court ruling, as up to two weeks ago, I got an enquiry from someone whose post had been terminated. She was out of a job and was still not aware of the ruling."
The Court of Appeal had ruled in December 2001, that the government acted illegally in terminating the positions of the teachers. It also said eight teachers who had been dismissed by the Education Ministry under a rationalisation programme, should be reinstated. The JTA had also maintained that the ruling in favour of the eight teachers also affects 21 other members of the association, as well as other non-unionised teachers.
Meanwhile, the Appeal Court ruling called for the teachers to be given back their jobs, on the grounds that the school boards did not give them a hearing, and such action was out of line with the rules of natural justice.
The ruling also stipulated that the teachers' jobs were terminated to bring the staffing levels in line with the operating teacher/ student ratio, but their dismissals were contrary to Regulations 55-59 of the Education Act, which state that a teacher can only be terminated if found guilty of professional misconduct.
