SALEM – School officials have confirmed that the Montserrat Secondary School continues to be challenged with having a full cadre of teachers in its employ.
Although the school year is about to move into its fourth week, almost 200 students are without a regular math teacher. The students most affected by this are those in the top academic stream and now in the fourth and fifth forms who are preparing to take the CSEC exams.
Principal Cherlyn Hogan told ZJB News that the Ministry of Education has informed them that the should have a substantive math teacher by the end of this week.
President of the MSS PTA Billy Darroux said the teacher shortages at the school have been a recurring theme for several years now and calls it “unfortunate that lessons have not been learned and applied.”
Darroux said they were “also concerned that low achievers, and other requiring extra support like non-English speaking students are not being supported due to staffing issues at the Montserrat Secondary School. The Personal, Moral, Social Education (PMSE) programe of the school is also affected.
He added that the ministry and the school has advanced the process to rectify the shortfalls but are dependent on the human resources division of government to rectify the situation.
The school is also in need of an English teacher and ICT classes are also affected as two teachers are on sick leave. However, those classes are being covered by temporary staff.
