A shortage of teachers for core academic subjects in schools is diverting specialist teachers, particularly in music and fine arts, the Ministry of Education and the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) have confirmed.
Many teachers in the creative arts are being reassigned to teach core subjects, a situation the BUT described on Thursday as “quite unfortunate”.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY, union president Rudy Lovell addressed complaints raised by teachers during a music project-based learning workshop being held at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College. The teachers expressed frustration that despite being highly qualified in their areas, many music educators are unable to utilise their training as they are being reassigned to teach English, Mathematics, and other core academic subjects, due to staffing shortages.
Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, who was present at the workshop’s conclusion, acknowledged the issue and said the Ministry of Education is working to resolve it.
She told reporters: “It is something that we are looking to remedy through partnership with the NCF. We are currently discussing a proposal for the expansion of the number of music teachers at the primary level because we want all of our children exposed to it. Our children cannot know that they are good at music until they are exposed.
”We know that we are living in an exam-driven society where English and Mathematics are given the focus. But our children need to be exposed to other subjects as well. As much as we have to share that with the parents, we have to share that with the principals too, so that they will be able to timetable their teachers and assign them accordingly. I assure you that I will have that conversation with my principals so that our children can have the best opportunities.”
Lovell echoed these sentiments, stressing that principals must make better use of the specialised skill sets of their staff to enhance teaching and learning within schools.
BUT president Rudy Lovell. (FP)
“It happens in both primary and secondary schools; it is quite unfortunate,” he said. “Really and truly, when an individual is qualified in a particular area, we should utilise them instead of taking them into a different area where they have little knowledge of.”
BUT General Secretary Herbert Gittens said that while the reassignment of teachers is often due to insufficient resources, greater effort must be made to ensure that those who specialise in creative or unique subjects are given the opportunity to practise their craft.
“You would find that there are differences based on the allocation [of resources] in the various schools and so on,” he said. “From the union’s standpoint, students have different learning styles, so it will always be good to have these types of programmes going because every child is not academic.” (SB)
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