The Editor, Sir:

I am a teacher and I support performance-based pay for teachers. I have listened to the discussions, read the arguments and applied them to my own experiences. I am confident that all I have witnessed and heard about in the education system in Jamaica support performance-based pay. This position, you might be surprised, is supported by many teachers.

The recent adjustment in the teachers pay package has generated much comment from those who have no idea about what happens in the school system. They are not aware of all the parameters that must be measured in order to determine, with a significant amount of accuracy, why some schools have a large majority of its students performing poorly in external examinations. However, the one which closely resembles my position on the matter is Barack Obama's.

College-trained teacher

I believe that teachers who go beyond the call of duty, in order to get their students to perform at a level which reflect their potential, should be rewarded. Others should remain at a base level until it can be ascertained that them being the teacher caused some change in the behaviour of the students. After all, that is what education is all about. Our system does not support this.

Example number one is that of a teachers' college-trained teacher of mathematics, teaching for several years with most of her students failing every examination, both internal and external. However, she is always punctual for school and classes. She peeps in on Parent Teachers Association meetings, just to make sure she is seen and her presence is recorded.

She never supports school activities and leaves as the bell rings in the afternoons. She applies for and is allowed two year's paid study leave to study for a bachelor's degree in guidance counselling. She returns to her lacklustre performance in the teaching of mathematics, still complaining about the students' lack of interest in the subject, and at least $100,000 per year increase in salary. She is now classified as a trained, graduate teacher.

Example number two is that of a teacher, with a Bachelor of Science degree, who teaches biology. After teaching for two years, has a pass rate of 100 per cent for students sitting both CSEC and CAPE examinations, who were taught by him.

Extra classes

He stays late in the evenings, is at school on Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays, in order to accommodate extra classes for his students, at no extra cost . He is in constant touch with parents, trying to determine the cause when students lose interest. He participates in all school activities. He is classified as a pre-trained teacher and is paid much less than teacher number one.

We must find a way to reward teachers such as teacher number two. Still, there is no way that we can use examination results alone. A teacher such as teacher number one could have the students in her class deciding that they need to go to an extra class because they heard of her reputation. The majority then pass their examinations. The teacher is then rewarded for this magnificent turnover in her (presumed) results, using that method.

Our teachers need to be encouraged to get proper training, but this system of giving more pay for more certification, especially if it does not improve the performance of the teacher in classroom instruction and the delivery of content in their prescribed subject area, should go.

I am, etc.,

CYNTHIA COOKE

Principal

Camperdown High School