Esther Tyson, ContributorThere has been a lot of attention paid to the the police shooting at Ardenne High School at the end of June. This attention was not solicited by the school but is the result of the embarrassment and shame that the police high brass and the Government feel about the apparent reckless and irresponsible behaviour of an officer of the law who is sworn to uphold justice and to defend life in this country. To have such an officer, in plain clothes, running through a school compound with a gun out, among students, and then shooting an unarmed man in a staffroom without even identifying himself to the staff is absolutely reprehensible.
May I hasten to say that, as a school community, we speak on behalf of all the citizens of this nation who have suffered from such atrocious behaviour from the police, this should not ever happen again in this country. As a school community, we wait to see the outcome of this situation. The insane man has been arrested, the injured prep-school student is traumatised but recovering and the officer has been pulled from front-line duty, but justice needs to be served. We look forward to seeing this situation dealt with thoroughly and not ignored and left to be lost in the short memory of the Jamaican people. If Jamaica is to believe that there is indeed reform taking place in the police force and that justice can prevail even in that institution, then this situation must be resolved and resolved speedily.
What is free education?
Elsewhere, the term 'free education' is being bandied about in the media by many and is being used as a political gambit in this general election. My question is, what does free education mean? Does it mean free approved school fees? Approved school fees are fees established by the Ministry of Education. These have not been increased since 2002. These approved fees are most unrealistic. No school operating a programme to benefit its students can function effectively on these fees. This is the reason that many schools ask parents to pay additional fees. Does free education, therefore, mean the economic cost of educating a student? Does it mean that whoever is intending to give Jamaicans free education will be willing to give the schools the full cost of educating each student under their care so that parents will not have to pay additional fees? This question needs to be answered.
We, as a nation, are all aware of the continuing increase in the cost of living since 2002. How realistic is it then to expect schools that have to pay the forever-rising utility costs to function on the approved fees? Schools get no exemption or discounts from utility companies. Light bills are exorbitant, water rates remain the same as for all citizens and telephone rates are not discounted for schools. The maintenance costs for operating a school are astronomical. The Ministry of Education gives traditional high schools $20,000 per year for maintenance.
Administrative costs increase
The cost of simply running the schools' administrative offices increases yearly. The Ministry of Education tells us repeatedly that there is no money for capital infrastructural development.Where are we to get this from? Principals and teachers are forced to spend much of their energy and time fund-raising in order to keep the schools afloat. We have become professional beggars within the school system. This way of operating needs to change. We need to be able to focus on the academic development of our students, not on fund-raising. Free education must, therefore, mean freedom for teachers and administrators of schools to focus on educating the nation's children, and freedom from the burden of fund-raising, freedom for parents from paying any fees at all. Anything less is not free.
I was very heartened when at the beginning of the intense period of political campaigning both major political parties agreed to control the irresponsible use of language and personal bashing of their opponents. Therefore, my distress was great when within the last week both parties were back at the mudslinging and name-calling. How can we expect the people on the ground to respond to each other in a peaceful manner if the leaders do not have the self-control that it takes not to use belligerent tones to describe each other and not to respond as if they are involved in 'cass-cass' and 'tracing' when something is said about them?
Disgraceful conduct
I find it absolutely disgraceful the way that our political leaders have been conducting themselves in the past week. When one party candidate is going to refer to another party as rapists and in turn the offended party responds that if he has his virginity he would be able to keep it since nobody would want to rape him, it is a reflection of how low we have reached in this nation. I am ashamed of the behaviour that these leaders have displayed to the nation. Our leaders need to sincerely pray the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi - "Lord make me an instrument of thy peace/Where there is hatred, let me sow love/Where there is injury, pardon …"
Do we think that nation changers such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. changed their nationswith dirty mud-slinging? What image are we holding up for our people to mirror? What do we want for ourselves as a nation? Cass-cass and cuss-out? What is even more appalling is that this type of degrading behaviour does not just stop there. Many of the followers in the parties will take that and move from mere words into violence. Isn't this the country where a man kills his uncle over ackee?
Esther Tyson is principal of Ardenne High School, St. Andrew.
