THE EDITOR, Sir:
AS WE celebrate 'Teachers' Day' and the 275th anniversary of Wolmer's, we also are aware that the principal of Bridgeport High has been receiving death threats after the stabbing that took the life of a 15-year-old pupil at that school. In addition, the schools in the war-torn areas of Trench Town, Arnett Gardens and Jones Town have just reopened.
The progress that has been made in education is being threatened by forces within the society, the community, the family and the individual. We are experiencing cutbacks in government expenditure, under-achieving students, poor teaching performance and a largely absent vision of what we are trying to achieve.
I am hopeful that the recent task force appointed by the Minister of Education will have some impact. I hope that more visionaries will set to work in the 21st century as many had to in the 20th century. The majority of today's traditional high schools are the work of churches and trusts. The majority of tomorrow's schools will have to be established by churches and trusts. I hope that the thousands of churches in the country will start building multi-purpose buildings which can be used for worship and education. These same organisations will also have to train teachers and also provide other tertiary education. Some parents will have to undertake home-schooling.
We have to limit our expectations of the government which often acts expediently and tries to provide a high quantity education instead of a high quality of education. There are too many illiterate young Jamaicans entering the world of the knowledge worker. We are competing with highly educated people from India, China, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and the majority of our students cannot make the grade. We have to admit our failures, as well as our successes. Parents have to pay more for their children's education; those who want their children to go to college must do as people in the United States, which seems to be the model for many Jamaicans. Save for college from the birth of their children.
It is not the responsibility of anyone else but the parent in partnership with Government or private providers to take care of the child. A tertiary education is not the right of any one but is an investment that the country and the family have to make in the future. Where are those parents or guardians who do not attend the PTA meetings? Education cannot be free and the disingenuous politicians must stop saying that. Funding must be made available where possible as grants and loans for students with ability, but we have to get real. We have to stop fooling our children about the world that they have to compete for a place in. This new century and millennium requires new vision and action.
I am, etc.,
HILARY ROBERTSON-HICKLING
hilary.robertsonhickling@uwimona.edu.jm
