THE EDITOR, Sir:
There are flaws in the system, and we should do everything in our power to ameliorate the situation. However, any system that we turn the spotlight on will be weighed in the balance of public opinion and found wanting. I am not making excuses for the weaknesses in the education system, I am saying that we must not forget the strengths and we should be careful how we jump on band wagons. We should also be careful about the source from which we take expert advice on educational matters.
Some Jamaicans are bitter and angry with the Jamaican education system and The University of The West Indies in particular, because they did not meet the matriculation requirements for this university and had to study in foreign universities that would accept them. Some have done very well and have been awarded doctorial degrees, and they are back with vengeance. They will stop at nothing to get back at the system that prevented them from achieving their academic goals here in Jamaica.
There is a marked difference between these individuals and those who enrolled in foreign universities as a matter of choice or were awarded scholarships abroad. There are some adults who are still carrying the hurt from failing to be placed in a high school after sitting the Common Entrance Examination although they are now successful in various fields. These people will also do anything to get back at the education system that caused them pain.
Some people are trying to relive their lives through their children and are trying to ensure that the system does not fail them again. The list goes on. Adults need to stop trying to use the education system to satisfy their frozen needs and allow the professionals in the field of education to get on with the business of education. Leadership must come from educators.
We do not take our sick children to educators, manufacturers, designers, dancers, singers or lawyers. We take them to doctors. Why then do we expect expert advice on education from all and sundry? We all have a stake in education, but that does not make us all experts in this field. Expressing an opinion is not the same as prescribing solutions.
I am, etc.,
WINNIE ANDERSON-BROWN
Bagatelle District
Ashley P.A., Clarendon
