SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
PRINCIPAL OF the Spaldings High School in Clarendon, Alphansus Davis, has called for a national code of conduct to be implemented for students islandwide.
Speaking at the annual prize giving ceremony at the school on Tuesday, Mr. Davis said while "There needs to be a focus on teachers by way of a code of conduct for their performance, there needs to be a balancing of the equation with the implementation of the code of conduct for students."
"If the nation is to get value for money they spend on education, may I propose that not only should there be a code of conduct for teachers, but there should be a national code of conduct for students," said Davis.
He said performance should be demanded from students, especially those who get cost-sharing benefits on a yearly basis. Mr. Davis stated that what has been discovered is that those who benefit from cost-sharing are the ones who for the most part do not take their education seriously.
As a result, Mr. Davis noted that just as how teachers should be paid based on performance, students and parents who benefit from cost-sharing "should show good performance."
The past president of the Association of Principals and Vice-Principals also questioned what is being done by the Ministry of Education and Culture to discipline those students who are reportedly having sex on buses, seen in rum bars, as well as shops, "at almost any hour of the day when they should be at school."
Mr. Davis said he was hoping that the Ministry would recognise the problem of overcrowding at Spaldings High, saying the school would be hard-pressed to accommodate more students. "Come September, Spaldings High will need at least two additional classrooms so that it would be in a better position to accommodate the expected extra number of students," he said.
"We are bursting at the seams and we are begging the Ministry of Education not to give us more than we can manage."
