THE EDITOR, Sir:
I THOUGHT I would share an amusing incident with your readers.
Ten years ago, when I returned to teaching in Jamaica after several years working abroad, I was encouraged by colleagues to apply for a post of a marker with the CXC organisation. As I felt it would be useful to get into the workings of the system that I had been away from for several years, I did so in 1995 or 1996, I believe. I heard nothing and thought no more about it.
Today (June 25), I received a phone call from a charming young lady at the CXC office informing me that they had a ticket for Trinidad for me as I was supposed to be going there in order to mark CXC exams. Nearly 10 years after I had applied and there having been absolutely no communication to me from the CXC office, they bought a ticket for me! And here we are, as a country, down-crying teachers and schools and students for poor results in an exam which cannot even organise itself sufficiently to reply to applications or even to contact people it has set down as markers before informing them that they are supposed to drop everything and take off to a foreign country. Wow!
On a different point, could someone explain to me why, having been informed 18 months before my 60th birthday that I had to retire the moment I reached that magical age, and having received a letter telling me what my pension would be at the end of February (having retired in September last year) and having been informed by the Ministry of Finance that my cheque was ready and would be mailed to me two weeks ago, nothing has arrived. I must have made a good 10 or so phone calls to said Ministry and I keep being told that they have an immense backlog to deal with. We are desperate for good teachers but we are in a great hurry to retire them out of the system and then cannot organise ourselves sufficiently to pay their pensions. What are we forced retirees to live on? Breeze?
I am, etc.,
G.J. CRICHTON
Montego Bay #1
