?President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA), Roustan Job, says there is a shortage of teachers within the secondary school system. In an interview yesterday, Job said there was a shortage of subject teachers in the secondary school system. He added that the shortage was primarily among math and science teachers. However, he indicated that the shortage was temporary. He said with a class of teachers graduating this year, more teachers would be introduced into the system and into schools where they were needed. Job said he was unaware of any shortages of teachers in the primary school system.
When asked about the concerns raised over teacher absenteeism, he said he was unaware of the problem as he had not heard any complaints from the respective schools. On the topic of teachers taking extended leave, he said it was not a common practice among the majority of teachers to exceed their given period of leave. He said again he had not heard of any of teachers on extended leave without a replacement being put in place from any schools.