WE DEEM IT SEEMLY and vulgar that the choice of a woman to be principal of St. George's College - the Kingston high school for boys - should have aroused opposition from parents and faculty. That fact of the selectee's gender ought not to be a matter of debate. We acknowledge that some of the objectors have cited reasons other than gender such as the selection process and reported lack of administrative experience of the presumed selectee. However, gender seems to be the overriding concern of most of those objecting.
The concern, it is said, is the lack, or shortage of male role models in the society, including in schools where the majority of teachers are women. So parents of the pupils at St. George's, at least those who have spoken out, believe that a man should be at the head of the school to provide a male authority figure from whom their sons can learn. Some teachers apparently agree.
No one, of course, can disagree that it is good for a society if there is a gender balance in the upbringing of a child. There are certain life skills and behavioural norms that boys should learn from their fathers or other males. We accept that some of the deep social problems so obvious in Jamaica result from an absence of male figures in the lives of our young men.
But it seems to us that the solution to this profound crisis lies not in discrimination against women, especially in their employment, as appears to be the situation at St. George's. Neither can the responsibility for the socialisation of our children rest primarily on our schools and teachers. This is wrong on two obvious counts.
The first, and most apparent, is a treacherous retreat from the norm of equality of the sexes and the penalisation, implied and in fact, of women for their efforts, hard work and achievements. It can't be accepted that women should accumulate demerits for being certified at a rate of more than twice that of men, or for the fact that 70 per cent of the Jamaicans enrolled in universities are women.
What we should be judging persons by in a decision on employment is the capacity to do the job. In the case of being head teacher, at St. George's or any other school, what matters is whether the person can manage the staff and the organisation, has a clear grasp of the curriculum, masters the skills of pedagogy, can impose discipline and can motivate the school to excellence; or the best combination of these skills whatever that person's gender.
The second point is that there appears to be a wish for an abrogation of personal responsibility and the relegation of a family's fundamental role in raising and nurturing a child to the schools. Schools do have a role, as do other institutions in the wider society. But the primary responsibility of schools is to teach and provide a sound education in prescribed areas to children.
These institutions are not equipped and ought not to be asked to be mothers and fathers a prospect that makes the St George's episode all the more offensive.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
