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yes we need to get better and we can get more resources in the school but there is a lot to be proud of and in many cases we can do better with what we have.
First let me say my mom was a teacher and a damn good one and most of her friends were teachers. They worked at a primary school and the amount of students that they turned out that are computer professionals are amazing yet we never saw computers until our 20s, There is always many doctors and lawyers and other professionals. The system worked then, not everybody even got common entrance and not everybody was bright but most had ambition and learned the value of education and discipline.
After leaving high school at a very young age, I had no job so I volunteer for 3 months to teach common entrance extra class and some of the younger class. On a recent visit to Ja, I saw a young lady asking “you nuh memba me”? At first I didn’t but she said to me “A you teach mi fi read” and it made my day.
Now after working with some inner city school in the US and working with some of the kids in a volunteer soccer program. I see even with technology and 21 century classroom, without the kind of teachers I was fortunate to have and the caring community most will not be going to college or even be professionals as the gangs start to attract these kids from 9 years old and many sit and home and play video games while some parents give no attention to what they are doing and are not concerned about their work or motivating their kids.
Working at the community college level and been advisor to Caribbean organizations I have seen many of these kids have gotten second chance and have done great. The fact is we can do better with what we have and it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to make a difference. Our education system has been poor because we have allowed it to. One famous saying of my former principal was when some parent said to him “Titchfield have gone to the dogs” he in turn said to the parent, “it is the other way around, your dogs have come to Titchfield”.
The fact is we can do better than we are doing and based on my experience in the educational system I have come to the conclusion that the same valves that work then work NOW but we find every excuse and reasons not to implement them.
First let me say my mom was a teacher and a damn good one and most of her friends were teachers. They worked at a primary school and the amount of students that they turned out that are computer professionals are amazing yet we never saw computers until our 20s, There is always many doctors and lawyers and other professionals. The system worked then, not everybody even got common entrance and not everybody was bright but most had ambition and learned the value of education and discipline.
After leaving high school at a very young age, I had no job so I volunteer for 3 months to teach common entrance extra class and some of the younger class. On a recent visit to Ja, I saw a young lady asking “you nuh memba me”? At first I didn’t but she said to me “A you teach mi fi read” and it made my day.
Now after working with some inner city school in the US and working with some of the kids in a volunteer soccer program. I see even with technology and 21 century classroom, without the kind of teachers I was fortunate to have and the caring community most will not be going to college or even be professionals as the gangs start to attract these kids from 9 years old and many sit and home and play video games while some parents give no attention to what they are doing and are not concerned about their work or motivating their kids.
Working at the community college level and been advisor to Caribbean organizations I have seen many of these kids have gotten second chance and have done great. The fact is we can do better with what we have and it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to make a difference. Our education system has been poor because we have allowed it to. One famous saying of my former principal was when some parent said to him “Titchfield have gone to the dogs” he in turn said to the parent, “it is the other way around, your dogs have come to Titchfield”.
The fact is we can do better than we are doing and based on my experience in the educational system I have come to the conclusion that the same valves that work then work NOW but we find every excuse and reasons not to implement them.
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