Wentworth Gabbidon, acting principal of the Albert Town high school in Trelawny, says there are aspects of the British education system that could benefit Jamaica.

Mr. Gabbidon, who recently completed a three-month fellowship in the Unitd Kingdom, where he examined the British education system, also noted that Britain could also benefit from the Jamaican system as the country is on par with the U.K. system.

He said the areas of resources and assistance to teachers, the setting of targets for students and self evaluation in schools could be of use in the Jamaican system.

Mr. Gabbidon, a past president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), said the U.K. could benefit from areas of classroom control and discipline. He was selected for the fellowship by the JTA. The programme is organised by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the British Council.

He was one of six Commonwealth Fellows on the programme and was placed at the Mosley Secondary School in Birmingham. He was also able to visit several other schools in the area. During the placement, he shadowed the head, as the emphasis was on education leadership and management structures.

"We all learnt much as the programme also included a one-week leadership workshop and also in terms of education leadership and how it operates in the United Kingdom," he said.

One area of concern he had was the under-performance of Afro Caribbean boys, which he said could becaused by community and cultural differences. Gabbidon suggested that one initiative which could help to address the problem was the establishment of links between schools in the U.K. and Jamaica.