By Damion Mitchell,Gleaner WriterOCHO RIOS:
AMIDST A resounding applause, Wentworth Livingston Gabbidon, 49, received his badge of authority as the Jamaica Teachers' Association's (JTA) 36th President at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande, Monday night.
An overwhelmed Mr. Gabbidon, who thanked his family members and colleagues for their support over the years, said he recognised the mammoth tasks that his administration faces.
At the forefront of his plans is the establishment of a national mentorship programme for new teachers and the leadership training programme for young members of the JTA. He disclosed that the mentorship programme would see new recruits being "twinned" with an experienced teacher from the same institution to further enhance professional development of the young educators.
Early childhood education must be significantly improved for better achievements at the primary and secondary levels. According to the President, failures of the education system at these levels could be linked to inadequacies at the early childhood stage.
RETAIN ITS BEST
Noting that Jamaica must retain its best teachers, Mr. Gabbidon said "we are to provide therefore a level of remuneration that will stem the flow to foreign lands."
He bemoaned that overcrowding was still a chronic problem in schools and lamented that as many as 60 students were in some classes. "This situation is a gross injustice to the students and teachers involved and must be corrected if we are talking about minimum standards," he stressed.
Addressing the matter of performance pay, he said "you cannot measure what does not exist. Therefore the required inputs must be made before one begins to measure
performance."
