THE EDITOR, Sir: THIS IS an open letter to Maxine Henry-Wilson. the minister of education: Several roundtable sessions were held which spoke to the reform of the education system. At the meeting I attended we were asked to conceive what could happen in 2014. I note that four major issues were outlined in the House of Representatives, namely: governance and management; curriculum, teaching and learning support; stakeholder participation and finance.
My concern is as follows. The government has spent and borrowed vast sums of money to develop a Revised Primary Curriculum for grades 1-6. It has spent thousands of dollars housing teachers at hotels, while training them to use this curriculum. It is now spending thousands of dollars training primary school principals in leadership for Effective Schools; Educational Evaluation and Classroom Supervision; Organisational Behaviour and Issues in Jamaican Education(including Law and Finance).
COLLABORATION
This is being done in collaboration with Mt. St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, Canada. The four major issues raised, Madam Minister, are already on stream for primary schools. What is needed at this level is to monitor the persons who have been trained and see to what extent they are using what has been taught. What is needed is for teachers to change their focus and realise that schools are ultimately for students' welfare, not fund-raising or teacher welfare. It is important to give the curriculum a time to work. A five-year plan is good.
It is equally important, Madam Minister, to use some funds that are used to pay consultants to improve the state of our schools. Make them user-friendly for all the stakeholders. By all means improve basic school education, put principals on contract and dismiss non-performing teachers after due process; but for
God's sake, do not fix what is not broken.
I am, etc.,
S. WILLIAMS
spicey_shar@hotmail.com
Box 35 Kingston 7
