The Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) directed teachers to avail themselves in school by 28th of Monday ahead of the school reopening date which shall be announced soon.
However, some teachers are still confused as to whether to report to school tomorrow or wait for learners to report first. This group of teachers include those employed by the Boards of Management (Bom) and those serving as interns.
The Teachers' Service Commission announced that only permanently employed teachers are to report on Monday to prepare for the resumption of studies. The gap remains in some public schools where the majority of teaching staff is made by the BOM teachers and interns whose contracts end in a few months time.
The Board of Management teachers and the intern teachers will be battling out to be recruited to the recently advertised jobs as from Monday 28. Some will be replacing teachers who left the job due to various circumstances.
Most of the teachers who applied for the TSC advertised jobs are yet to receive their interview invitations. It is true that some in some schools, the number of BOM teachers surpass that of TSC employed teachers.
It is common sense, that this group of teachers won't report to school unless they are sure of their interview outcome in a few days ahead, but the question as to whether enough teachers will report to school on Monday remains to be seen.
The Ministry of Education has maintained that schools will only reopen if the COVID-19 protocols are met and the cCOVID19 curve flattens.
For the Ministry of Education and TSC to achieve its the target, they need to address these issues as soon as possible as failure to do so might delay the reopening date for students.