By Avia Ustanny, Gleaner Writer 
Mackran Singh is aware of the need "to offer our girls equal opportunity". - Carlington Wilmot photo
THE CONVENT of Mercy Academy, Alpha, established as a school for girls in 1894 on lands bought by Ms. Jesse Ripol, now has a man at the helm.
Mackran Singh, for 20 years a teacher of French and English at the Convent of Mercy Academy, was last year appointed principal of Alpha, filling the seat left empty by Sister of Mercy, Catherine Grace in 1999. In doing so he has broken a century-old tradition of Catholic, female leadership.
The Guyanese national (now a naturalised Jamaican), male teacher of the all girls, very traditional, high school, with the quirk of an eyebrow, gives the soft pedal to his unique role. "I've had a bit of luck. For 10 years, Sis. Bernadette (a past principal) was an excellent mentor. Another was Mrs. Grace Baston," he told Outlook.
But, Singh, the papa of two girls, Maya and Rhiya Singh, is now a father figure in his own right at the school. He counts among his blessings an excellent relationship with the Parent-Teacher Association at the school and close ties with the alumni the association of past students. He is an accepted part of the community having seen many generations grow up at Alpha.
"Many of my grandchildren are in school now," he quips.
Gender issues are critical
The role of principal appears to fit as comfortably as a glove. Mr. Singh, however, makes no attempt to underplay gender issues and, in fact, has made the matter a subject of special study since 1999 when he started out as acting principal.
"I realised that I needed to have a deeper understanding of gender and socialisation. I asked myself when I got the job, 'how do my girls see me?' I needed to understand this," he says.
According to the principal, "In our society there is still a great deal of male domination. Many of our girls come to us with low self-esteem which is not academically, but gender-related. When you add to these the common beliefs or myths that there is a biological basis for male superiority over females, you see what we have to contend with.
"In the home, the socialisation processes also add to these myths. From the toys purchased for each sex to the duties given to each, the perceptions of superiority and inferiority are reinforced. Boys are socialised to be leaders and to be aggressive while girls, even now are still being socialised to be passive and submissive."
Reinforcing all of this, the principal notes, is the culture, including film and music.
"In the music especially, there is a concerted effort to present a negative image of the woman as a sex object.
"As a male principal of a female institution one has to become aware of gender socialisation and how it impacts on the girls," principal Singh said.
Broader issues of socialisation are also at work. The principal, quoting from Oscar Lewis' 'Culture of Poverty', comments that children born into this culture show a level of fatalism and a feeling that they are not in control of the conditions of their life and a feeling that education will not remove them from their current class position. To the extent that his girls are affected by such a culture, you will have to assess and take remedial action.
Equal opportunities
Mackran Singh says that he is also concerned about the "struggle to offer our girls equal opportunity in education. We subject them to universalistic standards (same classrooms, teachers, do same examination) and call it equality in education. But, this is an illusion... Our girls come from different family backgrounds and different positions on the social scale. This will affect the outcomes that they exhibit having gone through the system."
At Alpha, attempts to deal with these inequities in family background include the establishment of a Mathematics Resource Centre at no cost to students. There is also increased guidance and counselling and more parenting seminars to deal with parenting skills have been implemented.
As to the oft-repeated saying that it is a downtown school, Mr. Singh says that this is only a geographical truth, as by national standards the school's results are above average.
In 2002, he notes, Alpha was rated by the Ministry of Education as No. 11 in the top 20 schools in the island. The school has an enviable pass rate in Mathematics and English of 89 per cent. Eighty per cent of students who sit the CXC examination at the general level also pass. With a curriculum of 19 subjects in this examination, no subject has a pass rate of less than 50 per cent. In 2002, more than 75 per cent of all graduates received passes in four subjects or more.
A five-year plan and programme to improve the performance of the girls in sports has also been showing positive results.
Mackran Singh, a graduate of the Universities of Guyana and Bordeaux, in France, himself, said that one of the blessings of Alpha was the quality of its teaching staff. Many now present at the institution have served for 15 years and over.
"I want to commend those teachers who take students with very modest scores in the GSAT examination and do very extraordinary things with them," he said.
With great attention to detail and to sociological and historical realities, the Convent of Mercy continues to transform the lives of its girls.
