IT IS 2.50 a.m. in the morning and I am unable to sleep. I am unable to sleep for two reasons. The first is the fact that one of the brightest and best of my colleagues, Mrs. Yvonne Beau-mont-Walters, has been brutally murdered, and the second is the fact that my profession, the teaching profession, is accorded scant respect and little support by both the private and public sectors in Jamaica.
I started teaching at Shortwood College roughly a year ago. Having been out of the system working in the NGO/private sector for some eight years, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that there was a vacancy in the Modern Language Department at Shortwood Teachers' College and that I wanted to return to the classroom. Furthermore I was excited at the prospect of being able to train teachers, those who are second only to parents in their ability to nurture, build and influence young people in our society. I encountered at this college some of the most dedicated and energetic individuals that I have met in a long time. People willing to teach, to serve, to care under conditions that many professionals would have scorned long ago.
Mrs. Beaumont Walters was one such individual. At the first staff association meeting I attended, she impressed me by her clear, analytical thinking, her organisational skills, her compassion, and yes, Dr. Ralph Thompson, her beautiful diction. Not only was she dissatisfied with mediocrity of any kind, but she spent her entire day trying to raise the standards of teaching in schools across Jamaica and to improve the quality of our lives on campus. She was the acting Head of the In Service Team at Shortwood, a programme which conducts on-site training workshops to help teachers improve their skills, and the President of our Staff Association. Having earned her Master's degree some years ago, she was working on her PhD, (in fact she had recently been awarded a scholarship to do so) and was a devoted, energetic mother to her children.
The entire staff and student body at Shortwood Teachers' College is in mourning. What then can be done to curb this wave of violence, ignorance and anger that is tearing our society apart? Who if not the parents, teachers and ordinary citizens in the street should take a stand? Our country is in turmoil and anguish. Our children need our help. Most of the very people out in our neighbourhoods committing such atrocious crimes were once abused and neglected children themselves.
Jamaica, let us pay more attention to our people. Let us spend more money on education than on arms and ostentation. Let us return to a set of values inspired by love.
