President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Dr. Mark Smith says strategic and critical decisions are needed to stem teacher migration.

There is concern that Jamaica is losing many of its experienced teachers, who have opted to migrate.

The government has moved to fill the gaps by recruiting teachers from overseas.

Dr. Smith explains that many teachers leave the Jamaican classroom to improve the quality of their lives.  He suggests offering teachers incentives to remain.

The JTA president points out that many teachers experience challenges working overseas, yet  still opt to go.

He indicates that some do not see the migration of teachers as a crisis. Dr. Smith wants to see action taken now, to address the problem.