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Doran Dixon is the man
What his elevation means for teachers and the rest of us
CLAUDE ROBINSON
Sunday, July 07, 2013
DESPITE broad public disapproval of his vulgar "mongrel dog" reference to education minister Ronald Thwaites, long-time educator Doran Dixon has won overwhelming support from the rank and file of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) who have chosen him as their president-elect.
Results from the June 17 - 21 balloting revealed last week showed Dixon, who heads the Social Sciences Department at The Mico University College and who previously served as JTA president from 2008 to 2009, receiving 9,051 or more than 61 per cent of the 14,716 votes cast, demolishing four other candidates.
DIXON… now part of the JTA’s inner council
I was not surprised. As I wrote in my column of June 16, 2013, "...once we get past the vulgar language and ugly suggestions in some of the comments of Messrs Adams and Dixon, it must be recognised that the JTA will aggressively seek to protect workplace benefits gained over the years. That's why I expect Mr Dixon to win the JTA presidency when the votes are polled next month. My guess is that the 24,000-strong membership may want a leader who can 'chuck badness' to the minister."
It will be recalled that Dixon was temporarily barred from the JTA presidential race in early June after his "mongrel dog" analogy.
It came as he addressed teachers at a teachers' rally at which he sought their support for the JTA presidency. It elicited applause and shouts of approval from his colleagues at the meeting.
As president-elect, Mr Dixon — along with outgoing JTA president Clayton Hall and incoming president Dr Nicely — will now be part of the inner council of the JTA and therefore part of the leadership that will do battle with Thwaites who insists on implementing the major reforms that will necessarily impact on benefits and privileges that teachers have long enjoyed.
My guess is that the overwhelming support for Dixon does not necessarily reflect endorsement of his characterisation of the minister.
Rather, it reflects a cultural trait, or belief, that people have to 'get on bad' or ignore social conventions or institutional restraints in order to get good results or protect one's interests.
What does the Dixon victory mean for future discussions on the reforms between the ministry and the JTA? What are the political and economic implications?
I spoke briefly with the minister on Thursday and he appeared to take the election result in stride, pointing out that he was on his way from a JTA event in Ocho Rios where he had been cordially treated by the executive and teachers.
Further, the regular meetings that the JTA had suspended after the minister announced the reforms in Parliament resume at the ministry on Tuesday, indicating that some of the initial anger had dissipated.
But he was firm that it cannot be business as usual, "We are going ahead with the reforms that are absolutely necessary," he said.
Briefly, the minister has put forward two basic propositions: First, educational outcomes at all levels are so bad that measures must be put in place to change them.
Take secondary education as an illustration of systemic weaknesses. As a percentage of the whole secondary cohort in 2012, those passing CSEC English were only 38% and those passing Mathematics were only 20%; approximately 50% of the cohort or 22,000 "leave with a certificate of attendance and a pretty picture in cap and gown. They are not certified for work. Most knock on the doors of HEART Institutes where 75% cannot be admitted because their literacy and numeracy do not reach the modest Grade 9 level."
Mr Thwaites described the poor results as "a disgrace to the 34% of the education budget or approximately $26-billion spent on high schooling annually by the state."
The minister announced that several initiatives will kick in when the new school year begins in September. The list includes assessing all incoming Grade 7 students "and where there are literacy and numeracy deficiencies, suspend other elements of the curriculum and bring them up to Education Grade 7 standard."
The expectation is that by 2016 all Grade 11 students should be able to sit the relevant end of high school examination "as a basis for earning a high school diploma" and "each student will be required to have acquired at least one marketable skill." That's a huge change from where we are now.
The minister's second proposition, in the context of the country's financial predicament, is that some entitlements and privileges long enjoyed by teachers will have to be suspended or abandoned because keeping them could jeopardise the vital IMF agreement with the Portia Simpson Miller administration.
One that sticks in the throat of the teachers was the announcement that much of the study leave with pay entitlement will be suspended. According to Thwaites, government has to fork out more than $2.5 billion a year for this.
As an indication of the change in thinking, the minister told me that there are now some 800 applications before the ministry for study leave. Fewer than 200 will be approved, as approval will now be restricted to teachers who are seeking to gain advanced qualification in areas of greatest need in the system such as math and science teaching. This makes sense.
But any discomfort that Thwaites may be feeling would not only be from teachers sending him a clear message that they expect some concessions from the hard position he outlined in that speech in Parliament.
My sense is that the ruling People's National Party is not standing firm with him. That's clear from the statements coming out of the recent meeting of the PNP's National Executive Council (NEC) in Spaldings when party leader and prime minister Portia Simpson Miller expressed support for teachers and many other executive members said Thwaites should have done more consultations before he announced the proposed change.
The unstated message from the NEC disquiet is that alienating teachers could prove costly at the polls, especially for MPs with small victory margins. Teachers have, historically, been part of the PNP's 'natural' constituency and the party wants to keep it that way.
Then there is that pesky matter of the agreement with the IMF, which, among things, requires the administration to cut the size of the public sector wage bill. The cuts in the education reform package are part of what's needed to meet IMF targets.
Accordingly, IMF officials in Washington and Jamaica are known to be closely watching the struggle between the teachers and the education minister because it will send a clear signal as to whether the government has the political fortitude to live up to the harsh conditions they signed on to, in order to get the agreement and attendant cash and seal of approval.
Make no mistake about it, teachers and the education sector are not the only ones being asked to do some heavy lifting.
It will be recalled that the previous IMF deal with the JLP collapsed when some commitments were not met. Many of these are still on the table--including tax and pension reforms and overall cuts in public spending.
Seems the administration is caught between a rock and a hard place: the need to live up to the IMF strictures and conditionalities to maintain economic stability; but they cannot alienate their political support base. How the education reforms pan out should point us towards the outcome.
kcr@cwjamaica.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2YQDl5PQv
What his elevation means for teachers and the rest of us
CLAUDE ROBINSON
Sunday, July 07, 2013
DESPITE broad public disapproval of his vulgar "mongrel dog" reference to education minister Ronald Thwaites, long-time educator Doran Dixon has won overwhelming support from the rank and file of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) who have chosen him as their president-elect.
Results from the June 17 - 21 balloting revealed last week showed Dixon, who heads the Social Sciences Department at The Mico University College and who previously served as JTA president from 2008 to 2009, receiving 9,051 or more than 61 per cent of the 14,716 votes cast, demolishing four other candidates.
DIXON… now part of the JTA’s inner council
I was not surprised. As I wrote in my column of June 16, 2013, "...once we get past the vulgar language and ugly suggestions in some of the comments of Messrs Adams and Dixon, it must be recognised that the JTA will aggressively seek to protect workplace benefits gained over the years. That's why I expect Mr Dixon to win the JTA presidency when the votes are polled next month. My guess is that the 24,000-strong membership may want a leader who can 'chuck badness' to the minister."
It will be recalled that Dixon was temporarily barred from the JTA presidential race in early June after his "mongrel dog" analogy.
It came as he addressed teachers at a teachers' rally at which he sought their support for the JTA presidency. It elicited applause and shouts of approval from his colleagues at the meeting.
As president-elect, Mr Dixon — along with outgoing JTA president Clayton Hall and incoming president Dr Nicely — will now be part of the inner council of the JTA and therefore part of the leadership that will do battle with Thwaites who insists on implementing the major reforms that will necessarily impact on benefits and privileges that teachers have long enjoyed.
My guess is that the overwhelming support for Dixon does not necessarily reflect endorsement of his characterisation of the minister.
Rather, it reflects a cultural trait, or belief, that people have to 'get on bad' or ignore social conventions or institutional restraints in order to get good results or protect one's interests.
What does the Dixon victory mean for future discussions on the reforms between the ministry and the JTA? What are the political and economic implications?
I spoke briefly with the minister on Thursday and he appeared to take the election result in stride, pointing out that he was on his way from a JTA event in Ocho Rios where he had been cordially treated by the executive and teachers.
Further, the regular meetings that the JTA had suspended after the minister announced the reforms in Parliament resume at the ministry on Tuesday, indicating that some of the initial anger had dissipated.
But he was firm that it cannot be business as usual, "We are going ahead with the reforms that are absolutely necessary," he said.
Briefly, the minister has put forward two basic propositions: First, educational outcomes at all levels are so bad that measures must be put in place to change them.
Take secondary education as an illustration of systemic weaknesses. As a percentage of the whole secondary cohort in 2012, those passing CSEC English were only 38% and those passing Mathematics were only 20%; approximately 50% of the cohort or 22,000 "leave with a certificate of attendance and a pretty picture in cap and gown. They are not certified for work. Most knock on the doors of HEART Institutes where 75% cannot be admitted because their literacy and numeracy do not reach the modest Grade 9 level."
Mr Thwaites described the poor results as "a disgrace to the 34% of the education budget or approximately $26-billion spent on high schooling annually by the state."
The minister announced that several initiatives will kick in when the new school year begins in September. The list includes assessing all incoming Grade 7 students "and where there are literacy and numeracy deficiencies, suspend other elements of the curriculum and bring them up to Education Grade 7 standard."
The expectation is that by 2016 all Grade 11 students should be able to sit the relevant end of high school examination "as a basis for earning a high school diploma" and "each student will be required to have acquired at least one marketable skill." That's a huge change from where we are now.
The minister's second proposition, in the context of the country's financial predicament, is that some entitlements and privileges long enjoyed by teachers will have to be suspended or abandoned because keeping them could jeopardise the vital IMF agreement with the Portia Simpson Miller administration.
One that sticks in the throat of the teachers was the announcement that much of the study leave with pay entitlement will be suspended. According to Thwaites, government has to fork out more than $2.5 billion a year for this.
As an indication of the change in thinking, the minister told me that there are now some 800 applications before the ministry for study leave. Fewer than 200 will be approved, as approval will now be restricted to teachers who are seeking to gain advanced qualification in areas of greatest need in the system such as math and science teaching. This makes sense.
But any discomfort that Thwaites may be feeling would not only be from teachers sending him a clear message that they expect some concessions from the hard position he outlined in that speech in Parliament.
My sense is that the ruling People's National Party is not standing firm with him. That's clear from the statements coming out of the recent meeting of the PNP's National Executive Council (NEC) in Spaldings when party leader and prime minister Portia Simpson Miller expressed support for teachers and many other executive members said Thwaites should have done more consultations before he announced the proposed change.
The unstated message from the NEC disquiet is that alienating teachers could prove costly at the polls, especially for MPs with small victory margins. Teachers have, historically, been part of the PNP's 'natural' constituency and the party wants to keep it that way.
Then there is that pesky matter of the agreement with the IMF, which, among things, requires the administration to cut the size of the public sector wage bill. The cuts in the education reform package are part of what's needed to meet IMF targets.
Accordingly, IMF officials in Washington and Jamaica are known to be closely watching the struggle between the teachers and the education minister because it will send a clear signal as to whether the government has the political fortitude to live up to the harsh conditions they signed on to, in order to get the agreement and attendant cash and seal of approval.
Make no mistake about it, teachers and the education sector are not the only ones being asked to do some heavy lifting.
It will be recalled that the previous IMF deal with the JLP collapsed when some commitments were not met. Many of these are still on the table--including tax and pension reforms and overall cuts in public spending.
Seems the administration is caught between a rock and a hard place: the need to live up to the IMF strictures and conditionalities to maintain economic stability; but they cannot alienate their political support base. How the education reforms pan out should point us towards the outcome.
kcr@cwjamaica.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2YQDl5PQv