'Returning teachers eligible for jobs'
published: Saturday | June 12, 2004

THE MINISTRY of Education said yesterday that the more than 100 teachers who are set to return from New York are eligible for jobs locally once they go through the proper application process.

According to a statement from Dorrett Campbell, director of communications at the Ministry, the teachers have an equal opportunity and should be treated no different than other teachers.

"If they were to return, they would be free to apply to any school board of their choice for a teaching job. They would be treated in the same manner, as would any other teacher with the relevant qualifications," the statement said.

Nearly 200 teachers from Guyana and Jamaica are facing an impending exodus to their countries after they received letters from the New York Board of Education stating that their contracts would be terminated at the end of June. The reason cited was that their J1 visas on which they entered the United States in 2001 when they were recruited, are no longer valid. The teachers instead require a H-1B visa.