THE Ministry of Education has filled 83 of 128 teacher vacancies at denominational schools.

In response to a question in the Senate on March 19, Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry worked with the Teaching Service Commission to undertake a recruitment exercise in January 2023 for the Teacher I position.

"This exercise resulted in a priority listing containing 520 successful candidates for Teacher I primary position at government-assisted primary schools. The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) approved this priority list and, to date, 83 vacancies have been filled for Teacher I primary in primary schools operated by the various denominational boards."

She said there remained 45 vacancies to be filled which would be done as the ministry continued to receive recommendations from the various denominational schools.

She said those vacancies were filled under the new, modified process.

That process, which gives the ministry more say in filling vacancies, has been met with harsh criticism from denominational boards, particularly the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) which threatened legal action.

In January 2023, the SDMS sent a pre-action protocol letter to the ministry and TSC. It believed the new arrangement was in contravention of the 1960 Concordat agreement between denominational schools and the State.

Gadbsy-Dolly was unable to say when all vacancies would be filled as it depends on the denominational schools' selection of teachers from the order of merit list.

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