By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterSALARIES AND working conditions, the perennial problem of overcrowded schools and the need for improved training opportunities for teachers are key issues on the agenda for the 39th annual Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) conference which gets under way this morning at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
President-elect, Wentworth Gab-bidon, while offering little detail on the plans for the three-day conference, told The Gleaner last night, "There are a whole lot of questions we will be seeking answers to."
The three-day conference dubbed, 'Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through Education', opens at 11:00 am with an address by Professor Barry Chevannes, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies. According to Mr.
Gabbidon, who succeeds Sadie Comrie, the JTA is anxiously awaiting the Ministry of Education's draft proposals for the performance-based payment of teachers.
Education Minister, Maxine Henry-Wilson, disclosed at The Gleaner's Editors' Forum last Thursday that the draft document would be presented by representatives from her Ministry at the conference on Wednesday.
"We have not yet seen the document, but we have some questions because the realignment (of teachers' pay to within 75 per cent of market salaries) spoke to withholding increments and I am sure that will come for some big discussions," Mr. Gabbidon said.
FURNITURE SHORTAGE
And the matter of inadequate furniture for schools will also generate some debate. "Right now we have a chronic situation in some schools, as it relates to furniture, and that is a crucial issue that we will have to discuss," the president-elect said. He assumes office today.
Last week, Mrs. Henry-Wilson said all requests for furniture for grades one to three in the primary schools had been fulfilled. However, she said the Ministry has not satisfied the demands of the other grades and more so for secondary institutions which, she said, provided a greater challenge.
Mr. Gabbidon said a sore issue was the Ministry's failure to address the incompatible teacher-pupil ratio. "Although it should be one to 35, in some areas it is still one to 42 and the reality is that there are some classes with as many as 60 students," he said.
