The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) says it received 49 cases of teacher indiscipline up to February and gave the assurance it will be "treated seriously."Chairman Hyacinth Guy and members of the TSC met with the media to provide an update of its functions and operations at its Queen Street, Port-of-Spain, offices yesterday.The TSC listed appointments, discipline, delegation and regulations review among some of its 2011 priorities.Questioned about teacher indiscipline, Guy said there were 49 cases on the records.She said 24 cases dealt with abandonment of office, 18 breached the code of conduct and seven related to court charges.
Guy said: "Once disciplinary charges have been preferred the teacher goes before a tribunal and then the findings of that tribunal are sent to the Teaching Service Commission and we take action based on that."We wish the process can be a little faster but it is not always as fast as you will like it to be."Guy said actions ranged from dismissal to "the mildest"-a reprimand.She said regarding the discipline system, the TSC was "not always in the loop" about what occurred in schools and that had changed very quickly.
She said the TSC asked the Ministry of Education to immediately inform the commission on the same school day of any alleged misconduct by a teacher, particularly those that pertained to violence and harassment."We found that while we were getting information on issues of harassment, violence and court charges, there is a high incidence, we believe, of absenteeism and tardiness and we weren't getting that kind of information coming from the schools," Guy said.To correct that, she said the TSC sought to have the policy guidelines amended.According to the amendment, any teacher who has exceeded the limits of paid absences, established for the position, should be brought to the attention of the Teaching Service Commission within two weeks of the end of the school term.
Vacancies to befilled by September
There are currently 63 vacancies for principals and 36 vacancies for vice principals which are expected to be filled in time for the new school term in September, Guy said.By the end of this year, it is anticipated 586 vacancies for deans, heads of departments (HOD) and senior teachers will be filled, he added.Guy said for the period 2005 to 2010 there were 2,993 vacancies for principals, vice principals, deans, HODs and senior teachers.She said because of the new offices, the commission could conduct up to 200 interviews a month which meant filling 200 vacancies.