THE EDITOR, Sir:

WOMEN'S MEDIA Watch (WMW) members have found themselves in a whirl of debate over the appointment of a female principal at St. George's College, and we wish to make the following points.

Gender is overwhelming the selection process of the principal at St. George's College. Using the sex of a person to determine their professional capability constitutes sexual discrimination, whether directed against a man or a woman. It is obviously a person's qualifications and experience, not their gender, that should determine viability for a post.

It should not matter, therefore, what the sex is of the person who assumes the mantle of responsibility at St. George's. What matters is the attitude he or she brings to the post, the policies and the programmes that he or she institutes, and the efforts he or she makes to redress gender inequities, such as the lack of wholesome male role models, for example by introducing male mentors for boys.

GENDER AWARE

In the same way, a man as the principal of a girls' school would need to be gender aware. In fact, the head of Alpha Girls' School is a man, yet no protest was made over this appointment.

WMW understands that the candidate in question for the principalship at St. George's was properly interviewed and received the highest score from the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education. She was, therefore, unquestionably, the most qualified, appropriate candidate who should not be denied her right to the job.

Doubts about the principal being a female were raised in the context of the very real concern about male underachievement and the lack of male identification figures and male role models. The underrepresentation of male teachers is a problem all across the school system. One of the reasons for the lack of males in the teaching profession is that men are not as willing to accept the lower wages that the profession attracts. However, despite the fact that males are underrepresented as teachers, at the administrative level they are overwhelmingly in the majority, with 69 per cent of principals being male and only 39 per cent being female.

MORE QUALIFIED FEMALES

If the teaching profession is vastly constituted of females, wouldn't it follow that there are more qualified female candidates than male candidates for every post, including the post of principal, which begs the question: Would a man who is less qualified for the job be preferred, simply because he is a man?

Further, is it primarily the responsibility of men to mould the minds of young men, or is this a shared responsibility between females and males? As long as we continue to segregate these responsibilities along sex lines, we perpetuate the divisions that continue to thwart efforts for respectful, positive gender relations and gender equality.

In conclusion, WMW would like to congratulate St. George's on a laudable step in the right direction of achieving gender equality and also applaud all male role models who have been making positive contributions in the lives of our female and male youth.

We are, etc.,

Women's Media Watch

Jamaica

14 South Avenue

Kingston 10