“Empty Praise: Why Jamaican Teachers Tired of ‘Big Up’ and Want Bigger Cheque Instead”

You see that little chalkboard at the front of every classroom? That’s where the real groundwork of the country gets laid every day. But based on the Government’s latest wage offer, it look like dem feel say teacher work come with volunteer spirit and divine calling only. As incoming JTA president Mark Malabver put it,  with all the finesse of a frustrated principal on a Friday afternoon; the offer not even worth di grease paper wah wrap crab by Crab Circle.

Jamaican teachers have long held up the sky of the nation’s future while standing in leaky-roof staff rooms, sharing one whiteboard marker like it’s national treasure, and buying juice boxes out of their own pay for children who come to school with belly empty. And what’s the thanks? A four-year contract with zero per cent increase in the first year and a light 2.5 per cent dribble in the rest. Lawd have mercy, how dem fi buy gas with that?

Malabver is not whispering from the back of the classroom either. He’s drawing a full whiteboard diagram with bullet points and underlining the hard truth: Jamaican teachers are being paid crumbs while politicians sip sorrel in plush chairs padded with benefits. The Ernst & Young report, which the Government apparently shelved like old library books, recommended better compensation. But instead of aligning to best practices, the Ministry of Finance basically told teachers, “tek weh yuh get and gwaan teach.”

This isn’t just about money. It’s about respect. It’s about whether we value education beyond soundbites at national conferences. Because while we’re putting billboards up about innovation and transformation, our best minds are booking one-way tickets to Canada and the UK where they can teach without having to sell Avon on the side to pay rent.

Let’s not forget, this same Government scrapped “volatility allowance” for teachers working in hard-to-serve and high-crime areas. So a teacher working in a volatile corner of St Thomas or deep rural Clarendon still haffi risk life and limb with no extra compensation while politicians get security detail to visit a constituency once every leap year. And when the JTA said, “Alright, just reinstate the allowance,” the Government gave a shoulder shrug. Imagine that.

This whole saga reveals a deeper cultural issue. Jamaica loves to praise teachers at prize-giving and Education Week. We put them on posters. Call them nation builders. But come negotiation time, we treat them like a nuisance trying to upset the budget. If we’re serious about fixing education, we can’t expect miracles from people whose monthly salary can’t stretch from payday to the 15th.

So to Mr Malabver, walk good and talk loud. And to the Government, if you want to keep your teachers, you better stop offering them vibes and empty gratitude. Respect nice, but yuh cyan shop with it.

Because while chalk may write on blackboard, it’s the cheque that writes loyalty.