By Jenni Campbell
Contributor
We have been here before. Mass migration is again exacting its heavy toll on the brain and brawn of the society. Islanders are rushing, using whatever means necessary, even bypassing formal systems in some cases, in order to get to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, primarily in the face of frighteningly deteriorating economies, debilitating hopelessness, and a loss of trust in governments.
So, here we are again; the list of migrating teachers, nurses, and others is long and growing.
There is particular concern about the fast-widening gap in teacher vacancies to be filled in the sweltering summer months.
Principals are sweating profusely and at their wits end trying to pencil out a solution by September. It takes a special skill set to grab the best teachers from conferral platforms or from weaker institutions, only to lose them in short order to sweet-mouth foreign recruiters.
Jamaica seems to be hard hit by this recurring decimal, with large numbers of teaching vacancy advertisements fattening newspaper column inches daily.
Led by a bang-bellied, inept government with its head stuck in the sand, versed in corruption, and high on its own hype, Jamaica is a particularly special and certifiable case.
Every effort is being made on political platforms to quell worry and calm tattered nerves, with absolutely no clear solution to the looming crisis.
According to the Minister of Education, the number of teachers who have resigned since the start of 2023 is lower than in the similar period in 2022.
While this may be so, the Minister, mystified by statistics, ignores the fact that migrating teachers, over many years, continually extract loads of valuable pedagogical experience and strategic classroom management expertise from the floundering system.
Even if fewer teachers are migrating now, the habitual weakening of the education system will eventually lead to a fulsome collapse.
Incoming graduates, with eyes set on the next flight out, will never be able to replace the humongous loss of experience and expertise any time soon.
The government seems to have zero understanding that many of our students on current school rolls are struggling with addictions that were not clearly recognised or addressed before the onset of Covid 19.
In fact, it is reported by senior educators that addiction to pornography is rampant among our student population since the COVID lockdowns.
There has been a significant rise in self mutilation and in some instances, students have entered into pacts with satanic operatives online.
Some students have been molested or sexually exposed and exploited. Thoughts of suicide among students are at alarming rates as well.
In too many cases, the classroom has become a toxic confinement where hostilities flare and both students and teachers survive on a sharp and protracted edge.
Not many new teachers coming into this environment can be properly prepared for the disorder, dissonance, and danger they will face.
Any teacher, even those with the best intentions and deep love of students, profession, and country, would be hard pressed to refuse the offer of better-paying foreign jobs in a more predictable and properly resourced environment, especially when their governments continue to take them for granted.
The government has demonstrated to our teachers and other public servants that they do not care nor do they value their priceless contribution to the development of the nation.
Teachers, from time immemorial, have played a key role in nation-building.
The first role of the teacher is in line with the mandate of Ephesians Ephesians 4 fivefold ministries.
In His infinite wisdom, God gave a variety of gifts to His people. To some, He gave apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and some teachers.
Teachers of the Word disciple others and help them to grow in their ability to understand and communicate scriptural truths to those within the church.
While schools may not be churches, the role of imparting moral and even spiritual lessons for life, along side the academics, still resides with our teachers, many of whom are Christians active in their faith.
In a country where the majority of homes are in shambles, where most of our children are born outside of the security of wedlock, and where there is a prevalence of fathers in absentia, the classroom becomes the reliable catchment area for broken, shattered, fragile hearts, fading futures, and lost dreams.
A teacher, especially one who knows the Lord, is able to impart truth, wisdom, and healing through the power of the Holy Spirit. A Godly teacher is empowered by divine authority, exceptional gifts, and is ultimately effective in this role.
In Jamaica, Christian teachers play this God-assigned role among the most vile and vicious student population. They help their students understand the various concepts and guide them on a path to good morals and integrity of character, and point them to righteous paths.
It is a fair assumption that the loss of Christian teachers in this mass exodus from local classrooms is the work of the enemy on his relentless mission to steal, kill, and destroy.
When a government undervalues its teachers and disregards their plight, that government has shown its reckless hand and contemptuous heart. It is announcing negligence towards our children and a cavalier approach to our future.
A government that does not value its teachers signals that it does not rate education or righteousness, which still exalts any nation.
We are on the super highway to a crisis—fools speed ahead with no real solution in sight.
As the unbeatable record holder for building schools across the island, the church still has a solid stake in the education and nurturing of our children.
It is time to stand up and speak up with one voice on this issue. We cannot abandon our God-assigned role to the unwise, who neither know nor fear Him. The future of our children and our country must not be determined by happenstance.
