THE EDITOR, Sir:
ON THE eve of our upcoming elections, Jamaicans must reflect on the words of the 35th American President (John F. Kennedy) in his inaugural speech to the people of the United States:-
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country".
Fellow Jamaicans, we look to the incoming government as the coming messiah to solve all our problems, without giving a thought as to where we fit into the bigger picture. Hence the profoundness of the statement made by this famous statesman.
The challenges are great facing whichever party should take up office. Let us examine one major problem for emphasis, that has plagued Jamaica before "adult suffrage" and which if not addressed successfully will hamper any meaningful efforts, to go forward as country.
When we look at the level of illiteracy in our adult population being at an alarming level of 40 per cent in today's "information age", there are adults who do not have the basic three "r"s (reading, writing and arithmetic). It should be compulsory for every illiterate adult employed in this country to enrol in an "adult literacy class" and it should be illegal for employers to have an illiterate person in their employ without enrolling them in a literacy programme.
Every community should be serviced by a school or institution such as the church and manned by adults who are capable of giving volunteer service in these classes. We cannot just tackle literacy at pre-school and secondary levels, but offering free education as laudable as this maybe, but rather seek to make education sustainable, by instilling the value system for education in the parents, so that they can reinforce it in their children, and not be dependent solely on homework centres and what teachers can impart in already overcrowded classrooms. It is next to impossible to provide skills training for illiterate adults, and therefore we are going to produce a nation of hard-core unemployed citizens who will not be able to provide the workforce for investors in the event of any new infusion in the economy, or at best a work force with the ability to seek out opportunities for self-employment, by being able to garner the necessary skills to be self-supporting.
I challenge each and every one of you, of whatever political affiliation, to reflect on the statement, and ask yourself what you are honestly doing for your country today in service to your fellow Jamaican, and whether you are not in fact guilty of awaiting the results of elections in anticipation that the incoming government will work some magic to provide all the solutions, and then spend the next five years complaining about what the government did or did not do. This attitude will just repeat the vicious cycle of demanding change once again at the end of each successive term and feed our own deficiencies and lack of empowerment as a people.
I would like to end by asking all well thinking Jamaicans to pray for a peaceful elections, imploring you to use the time coming up as one of self-examination and reflection.
I am, etc.,
CYNTHIA BURTON
Cynthiaburton72@hotmail.com
