Teaching jobs scarce, so education graduate is moving on

A woman who completed her bachelor’s degree in education three years ago and has been waiting for placement as a teacher says she can no longer rely on the Education Ministry to provide a job, and is moving on to other career options.

The woman, who requested anonymity, said after the Teaching Service Commission’s (TSC) announcement on Thursday that it will no longer accept unsolicited applications, she cannot afford to put all of her eggs in one basket.

“I was like, 'Forget that,'” she joked, in a phone interview with Newsday on Monday. She said she has adjusted to the new situation and is no longer expecting a call from the Ministry of Education.

“I will continue looking for something else and doing my own thing, because it doesn’t seem like they will have advertisements for positions any time soon.”

She said she completed her degree in 2018, but had applied to the TSC in 2017.

She said she was was interviewed by the ministry a year after she graduated, but was unsuccessful, and was asked to submit a re-application letter this year.

“To be honest, I don’t think anyone had issues in my year group getting an interview. I think everyone who applied had to wait the same time frame. There were a few people who knew somebody and got through a little faster, but everyone who I knew and applied at least got a call back.”

She said, however, she is aware of others who have been waiting to be interviewed for years.

She said before attending the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), where she got her degree, she applied to the TSC around 2001, but did not receive a call for an interview until she had finished her degree in education.

She also said she has applied several times over the years to become a substitute teacher, but with no luck.

“Almost every year they ask for substitute teachers. About two months ago, they posted (an advertisement) and people shared it. I’m not sure how that will go, or if they will post again next year. They always post close to August vacation.

"As far as I know, other people who have applied never got a call from anyone.”

She said when she went to the TSC to submit her re-application in late August of this year, a week before school started, a representative told her the TSC could not accept her application because the Prime Minister had not yet announced when schools would resume.

She said she was also told there were no clerical staff in the building to accept the application.

Two days after the ministry announced when schools would reopen, she returned and was able to submit her application.

“My re-application is in (but) I don’t know if I will get a phone call. I’m not really waiting.”

She said she has been selling homemade sauces from her home in the interim.