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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports has taken note of the recent meeting held by the teachers at the University of St. Martin. The minister would like to reassure the teachers, parents/guardians and the general public, that the challenges faced by teachers in the Public Schools as well as all other schools has the full attention , concern and priority of the minister and the Ministry ECYS. It is important to note that during my first tenure as Minister in 2012/2013 several education conferences were held with teachers, managers and school boards to identify challenges and solutions. Out of these meetings several initiatives were brought forward and executed within the Ministry, including empowering school managers to make emergency purchases while awaiting big orders, the Education Care Center, Special Needs Education Assessment as well as investigation into the functioning of Public Education, which resulted in the temporary suspension of the Division Head. In accordance with the LMA and the HR performance policy , after the functioning of the head of Public Education was evaluated negatively on two consecutive occasions and also taking into account the report and recommendation of the investigation committee, the Council of Ministers made a decision to relieve (ontheffing) the Division Head of Public Education of the function and place as her in the function of policy advisor within the Department of Education (which was her previous function). This national decree was then forwarded to the Governor for signing. For reasons unknown to my person, the national decree was never signed and the file and supporting documents appear to have disappeared into thin air.
Upon my return to the Ministry ECYS in 2015 as Minister, I was immediately confronted with the same challenges with regards to the functioning of the Division Public Education and the management of the public schools. Several steps were immediately taken to address the most urgent and important needs which included meetings with teachers and school managers etc. The Public School teachers were heard on all challenges that they faced and the Minister updated them on initiatives that were in place as well as those that were being planned which would bring much needed relief.
Teachers did express extreme dissatisfaction with the management of public schools, which is well noted, however, the Minister reiterated that the last actions taken in that direction had been stagnated and was not aware of where such documents were. A national decree aimed at reorganizing the ministry and putting in place a new management structure for Division Public Education was rejected by the competent authority.
In the interim, the Minister instructed the Secretary General ECYS to provide more guidance and support to the Division Head in all matters of concern. The Financial Controller was tasked with allocating a specific budget for each Public School in an effort to empower school managers to better manage their schools in a more structural , efficient and effective manner. Unfortunately, despite reports to the contrary these measures appear not to have yielded the desired effect. As such, the Minister is still actively seeking ways to empower school Managers to be the agents of change within their schools, on an educational level as well, and to motivate teachers to work along with them to bring about the best possible learning environment for the students. Several plans in this respect will be discussed per school, as the Minister feels each school has its very own dynamic upon which it can build. The Ministry has also designated a coach to work with those designated by the school team as needing extra assistance in improving teaching and learning.
The HR challenges will also be addressed through the reestablishment of an active working relationship with Department of Personnel Affairs (P&O) of the Ministry of General Affairs. This is to ensure that all teachers are placed in their correct function, scales, receive their national decrees. Furthermore, this measure should ensure proper recruitment and placement policy moving forward.
The Education of the Move (EOM) Committee has been actively working on ways to improve the community’s awareness of how we can all contribute to making education better on St. Maarten, which includes public school teachers. This EOM campaign is scheduled to be launched in April of 2016. The Minister is also in the process of establishing a Teachers’ Committee, as a result of the planned activities of the EOM campaign, to keep in close contact with the teachers on a quarterly basis.
Minister Jacobs has always stood for education, for students and for teachers, management and staff. It is therefore unfortunate that teachers have not met on this specific action with the Minister prior to launching their silent protest and subsequent meetings which included honorable members of Parliament. While representatives of the Minister have been in constant contact with concerned teachers and remain accessible to their concerns whether submitted in writing or person, the spin that the report in the Daily Herald has created is one that nothing is being done at the Ministry level. Those who know better know, however it would be erroneous for something of this vast magnitude to be seen as a ploy for political gain by those who had ample opportunity to do something during the last government and did not.
Upon my request, I met on Monday evening with representatives of the teachers and have committed to meet with all Public School teachers on Thursday afternoon to officially hear the concerns that have surfaced during their last few meetings as well as to receive their petition and survey results. The Minister is open for dialogue with all stakeholders concerned aimed at solutions to resolve this issue in the best interest of all concerned! The Minister will install a committee consisting of Ministry reps, teachers, school managers and the union to come up with recommendations within 30 days on the improvement of the DPE.