Messing Around With Your Means of Earning a Living

Messing Around With Your Means of Earning a Living. Something that many people in the UK seem to have an affinity for - even if it doesn't benefit them.

Case in point the situation with foreign teachers. The UK authorities will target countries like Jamaica and try and get teachers to come to their country to teach the kids that no British teacher in their right mind wants to teach. So these Jamaican teachers come over and teach these kids - and believe me - it's not a pleasant task. They face racial and physical abuse, kids who have no interest in learning, who indeed actually laud ignorance and scorn intelligence, and rampant indiscipline.

Now upon recruitment, these teachers' qualifications and experience is adequate. But here in the UK for some asinine reason, those qualifications and that experience 'disappears' at the end of four years. For after teaching for four years in the UK education system you have to pay for, take the time out to do and obtain what they call Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). If not, you can no longer teach. Poof, livelihood gone. Also as this article in the Gleaner outlines http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070603/lead/lead3.html the information the UK authorities give about QTS is often inaccurate and obtaining it is not easy when you are working, much less when you are working in the worst schools, often under what they call 'special measures.' This means that on top of teaching and dealing with the crap I described above, you are assessed by the authorities CONSTANTLY. The stress is incredible.

Now you tell me why for the first four years a Jamaican teacher's qualifications are acceptable but after they are not? That makes any sense whatsoever to you?

This place is unbelievable! It's one of two things. They are screwing with foreign teacher's livelihoods - or feel that them coming to teach is some kind of activity that only benefits the foreign teacher - because they come to live in '1st world country' and therefore there must be a limit on the 'bounty,' or they have no care whatsoever for their own kids. For logic would state that if a Jamaican has to get British qualifications to teach here, therefore the Jamaican qualifications aren't any good, therefore letting them teach for four years based on these Jamaican qualifications is placing sub standard teachers in the UK system. Ergo British kids suffer.

The whole situation is ridiculous. Teaching qualifications do not expire - if that was the case then why do British trained teachers not have to gain some other form of qualification after fours years in order to keep on teaching?

The sad thing is that the UK DOES need teachers and by keeping up this almshouse all they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot - because let's be honest - the culture here is not one conducive to obtaining a great education - because of the British attitude. Taking out qualified ( and yes, Caribbean qualifications are top notch) teachers is just adding to the gross ignorance sweeping this country.

Really really stupid in my opinion.

And in the meantime, teachers who put up with incredibly terrible conditions, can no longer earn a living doing something valuable and something they love in spite of the lack of discipline and the dedication to remain ignorant that is the hallmark of so many British people.