As we told you on Monday, the deadline for the renewal of full teaching licenses has been extended until December 1st, 2019.
One of the requirements to maintain the license is that the teacher undertake 120 hours of Continuous Professional development which must be completed within a five year period.
This has caused concern among teachers who have completed masters degrees in educational leadership. There is concern that despite their efforts to obtain higher qualification there is a possibility of their licenses being revoked, should they choose not to participate in the Ministry of Education's mandated courses.
Chief Education Officer, Dr. Carla Babb spoke about the need for continuous development in the teaching profession and the constantly changing nature of education. She started with outlining the concession her ministry made after discussions with the Teacher's Union:
Carol Babb, Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education
"Originally teachers were expected to renew their license immediately, but we've made an extension and the closing date is the first of December."
"Every teacher with a full licence no matter what you have whether you have a P.h.d, a masters degree, whatever degree you have, you must maintain your license by doing 120 clock hours. So it doesn't matter what degree you have. You must do continuous professional development and the reason is that education is not static, things change, and so as professionals we need to keep current with the changes in ideas, technology, and everything else."
"Well we've grandfathered in those people who had their full license from 2014 and before. So, if you had a license from 2012 and you didn't complete your 120 clock hours, we are still going to renew your license. You will automatically be given a new license. The other teachers are expected to insure that they have their 120 clock hours."
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