CLARKEPetrina Francis
, Education Reporter
MICHAEL CLARKE, incoming president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), has a clear vision for the organisation over the next eight months.
Mr. Clarke, who is the vice-principal of Flankers Primary and Junior High School in St. James, was supposed to have been installed as president of the JTA in August, but was forced to wait because of illness.
Wentworth Gabbidon,
president of the organisation, was asked to continue, until Clarke recovered. Mr. Clarke will be installed as president of the JTA on Friday at the Starfish Hotel in Trelawny.
TRIPARTITE APPROACH
He told The Gleaner on Monday that he plans to have a tripartite approach where the JTA, the government and
teachers are involved in the decision-making process and "not wake up and find out that the policies are changed and the teachers do not know about it".
In addition, he hopes to host a one-day conference on technical and vocational studies in March or April next year to explore the possibilities of helping students in all-age and junior high schools who are not competent in the traditional subjects.
He noted that while the technical and vocational subjects are taught at the secondary level, "we need to see how we can bring them to focus on the primary and junior high," he said.
Mr. Clarke noted that while the HEART Trust/NTA is doing a similar programme, it does not usually take students until they are 17 years, and as such, there is usually a two-year gap in some children's education when it ends at age 15.
He is also hoping that the JTA will be able to implement some of the recommendations, which were made by a study commissioned by the organisation.
MEMBER-CENTERED
Among the recommendations were that the organisation be more membership-centred, as well as a need to reorganise its regional offices.
"The fact that we have reached 40 years indicates that it cannot be business as usual," he said, adding that it was time for the organisation to reposition itself for the future.
Mr. Clarke said he would intensify the mentorship programme for new recruits to the teaching profession, which was initially proposed by Mr. Gabbidon.
