PNP courts educators with bold promises
Published:Tuesday | July 22, 2025 | 12:11 AM
The opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is targeting the nation’s educators in the run-up to the next general election, listing from the platform several initiatives the party says will better their lives.
In a brief speech to Comrades gathered at the PNP’s Youth Rally in South St Andrew on Sunday, Omar Newell, deputy spokesperson on trade and investment, listed among the party’s promises, student loan forgiveness for teachers, a step up from the party’s overall plan for borrowers unable to immediately find a job upon graduating from university.
“If you are a teacher, I want to tell you help is on the way,” he said. “We know that we have not been able to pay you what you deserve. Many of you have taken on huge debts so that you can come and serve your country and your people.”
He said the next PNP government will forgive a portion of teachers’ student loan for every year that they work in the public sector.
“We going leave some money inna your pocket by forgiving you some of that. We leaving money so you can buy a house. We leaving money so you can fix up your house. We leaving money so you can take a vacation, if you choose to. Because we know the classroom is stressful and you going to save enough to buy a better car,” said Newell.
It follows on the party’s proposal for an income-contingent repayment system for student loans, capped at 10 to 20 per cent of a graduate’s salary. During periods of unemployment, payments would be suspended without penalties.
He reiterated the party’s plan for duty concession on motor vehicles for teachers.
“We going make them start them careers with more than chalkboard and chalk. We going make them start their careers with respect, with dignity, and with reliable transportation, so that them can travel about them business in comfort and in safety,” Newell said.
“... The next PNP government, when we ensure that you benefit from the concession, you are going to be able to buy, going to buy, more than a Probox. Because dem believe that all you deserve is a Probox; but because you’re in a noble profession, you deserve the car of your choice,” he said.
He noted, too, the party’s plans to lift the duty on tablets and laptops for educational purposes, asserting that Jamaicans are competing with developed countries and their advancements in artificial intelligence.