Smooth sailing for new school term - Whiteman EDUCATION AND Culture Minister Burchell Whiteman yesterday warned interests in the education sector not to create panic over any potential hiccups at the start of the new school year next week. At the same he has stressed that from his perspective, it should be relatively smooth sailing on Monday. "From all reports we are making progress with physical arrangements. We are not claiming that we might not be surprised by events over the weekend or that some repair programme might not miss its deadline, but the general indications are that all should be well for Monday morning when all primary schools and infants schools open," he said. He added, however, that there might be some delays in the delivery of furniture for some schools although a considerable quantity has already been delivered. He said textbooks for primary, all-age and junior high schools are expected to reach these schools by next week continuing through to the end of September. At his monthly press briefing at the Ministry's Heroes Circle office in Kingston yesterday, Mr. Whiteman again gave a good prognosis on the adequacy of teachers for Monday's start-up of school. He said most schools which have suffered from the mass exodus of more than 300 Jamaican teachers to fill overseas teaching posts have begun interviewing and employing new teachers to fill the void. He said he couldn't therefore forecast a crisis in the classroom based on his up-to-date report. Mr. Whiteman told reporters the Ministry was willing to investigate reports which suggest otherwise. "If some people have a vested interest in stirring up panic, I don't think it helps anybody. I think we need to deal with facts as we know them and respond to those facts," he said. "To the best of my knowledge the process is going along well so I really have no interest in adding to any panic, and I would really discourage those on that particular path to desist." His comments were apparently aimed at newly-elected Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) president Paul Adams who announced last week that it may take 20 years before the education system recuperates from the loss of the experienced teachers. But Mr. Whiteman added that he refused to accept that the removal of that relatively small number of teachers could have a major "catastrophic" effect on the education system. "I believe that any enlightened society, any progressive group of educators, planners, policy makers and practitioners, should be able to devise compensatory mechanisms to reduce the impact of that loss and to bring on new people with enthusiasm and new approaches to education, and help to push the programme for educating our students that much faster and better," he said.
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