MANAGING DIRECTOR of Scotiabank Jamaica, William Clarke, has appealed for a bi-partisan approach to education to ensure "a well-funded, highly successful product" irrespective of who forms the Government.
Speaking at Tuesday's Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation's Grade Six Achievement Awards Luncheon, Mr. Clarke said education was one area where there should be no divergence of opinions by political parties. He noted that there has been very little continuity because each party takes a different approach and discontinue old approaches when they come to power.
Mr. Clarke suggested that the Ministry of Education should aim to achieve 95 per cent literacy across all educational levels over the next 20 years and to make sure that all teachers were college and university trained.
He said government should pay teachers "appropriate salaries" based on their level of education and productivity as a person "cannot go to school as a teacher and be worried about how the mortgage is going to be paid and whether you have enough bus fare to get to school."
The BNS managing director also suggested that the Government should deal with the wide variety of civil servants negotiating for wages on a rotated basis.
"You might have to stand up on the Cabinet table and throw down a gauntlet but if that is what it takes, you can be sure that you have at least one supporter on the outside," he told Education Minister, Burchell Whiteman, who attended the function.
Meanwhile, Minister Whiteman called on Jamaicans to resist the urge to criticise and instead form partnerships to build the country.
"This is not a time for carping and conniving and criticising without substance. This is a time for all the partners to work together so that we can build this country," the Minister told the audience.
Meanwhile, 15 students and two teachers were awarded academic scholarships totalling some $2.3 million for this year by the Scotiabank Foundation.
Ten of the students are from schools in "inner city" communities.
The Foundation's scholarships are valued at $25,000 per year for between five and seven years, depending on the length of time the students remain in high school.
The Minister pointed out that the success of these ten students, which included five boys, showed that where persons live do not determine their level of success and also showed the results of "an effective partnership between them as students, teachers and school administrators and, of course, their parents and to a lesser extent their communities."
"It is only to the extent that the partnerships in this country are strong and effective in the cause of education that we will see the results that we desire," the Minister continued.
Scotiabank Jamaica's Managing Director also stressed the importance of partnerships. He encouraged all key parties to play their parts in steering students in the right direction. To the awardees themselves, Mr. Clarke advised that they should not to be distracted from the educational path by seemingly easy ways to make money and by the lifestyles of community dons, deejays and disc jockeys. "You have to always focus on further development...the next level," he said.
