By SYANN THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Education has been open about its challenges engaging teachers for the public school system, according to acting Director of Education Marcellus Taylor.

His comments came after Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson complained about the long-standing issue.

“In the past, we have indicated to the public that we were having challenges engaging teachers," Mr Taylor said. "Firstly, we have a challenge with persons entering the profession, but also because we have some administrative and other challenges."

Cabinet approved 218 new teacher hires for the 2019-2020 school year and out of that number, Mr Taylor said, 149 were deployed and fewer than 70 have not been hired so far. Mrs Wilson had claimed that about 100 teachers had not yet been hired.

He said the reasons include security vetting, teachers deferring or taking jobs elsewhere.

He said out of some 70 teachers, 21 are still being vetted, 23 have not completed their applications and 16 applications have been moved onto the Public Service Commission for recommendations to be hired.

For those still in the process of being hired, security vetting is critical, according to Mr Taylor, who said this process is done by the police. “One of the issues we have mentioned in the past is security vetting. That is done by an agency outside of us. Without the security vetting we do not want to engage people to work in schools because that security vetting was put in place to prevent persons of unscrupulous backgrounds being among students in a school setting,” Mr Taylor said.

He also said it is difficult getting teachers to relocate to the Family Islands for various reasons – cost of living and a lack of urban development —despite incentives provided by the government.