Providenciales, 21 Oct 2015 – TCI The Department of Education is fighting to fill teacher vacancies within the public school system due to a global demand for these professionals.
During House of Assembly, the Minister addressed concerns about teacher shortages and gave an update on teachers who are now in country and will take up their posts and others who are soon to come and will fill some voids. Hon Akierra Missick said it is not easy getting teachers despite the recent improvements in educators’ salaries in the public sector.
“This is a trend that other Caribbean countries are also seeing because there are sometimes better offers that are not just in terms of salary, but some countries are offering residency, citizenship, free access to education for those children that may travel with their parents – so finding teachers in the global world is a challenge.”
Turks and Caicos, like others in the region is losing teachers to countries who are able to make juicier job offers. The Education Department has been working on not only improving the caliber of expatriate teachers, but on the indigenous ones with scholarships for teaching degrees and upgrades for Bachelors’ degrees or help with specialty studies.
“We have as a Ministry moved forward with the training and educating through our scholarship policy to increase our local complement of teachers so that we can have a local complement that is committed to the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
As recently as last week, there was a resignation by an expat teacher in the public school system which now sends the Ministry on the hunt for a replacement.
According to Minister Missick, this is becoming all too common.
