Ocho Rios, St. Ann:

Claiming that the applications of several teachers who initially applied to the $600 million revolving loan fund were denied because they did not meet the criteria, Ruel Reid, former president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), says the next government should fund the upgrading of the island's teachers.

The revolving loan fund, which was championed by Mr. Reid, was launched in June to assist with upgrading the island's 17,000 teachers who are without a first degree - a recommendation made by the task force report on education.

Mr. Reid said there were some challenges with the loan fund as the final contract was different from what the JTA had requested of the Ministry of Education and Youth, which provided $500 million of the fund.

Net pay issue

He noted that the Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, the financial institution that won the tender to provide the loans and put forward the additional $100 million, had stated that, in order to qualify, a teacher's net pay had to be almost two times the repayment amount.

"The salaries that teachers are paid generally are so low. It is terrible that teachers' net pay does not allow for them to access funds to upgrade themselves," Mr. Reid told The Gleaner on Monday ahead of the JTA's 43rd annual conference, currently under way at the Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa, St. Ann.

However, there is now an agreement to extend the repayment period beyond the duration of the term of study, therefore making the monthly payment more manageable.

"We are intending, and we have already signalled to the Government, that there is an anomaly in this whole funding of education because, years ago, when teachers were being upgraded from certificate to diploma the Government funded all of it," Mr. Reid said. He added that only if teachers decide to pursue private studies, should they then be required to pay.

According to Mr. Reid, under the original upgrading programme, when teachers were moving from the certificate level to a diploma, teachers did not have to pay for this.