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Free education revisited
published: Tuesday | May 22, 2007
The Editor, Sir:
I have caught a lot of flack from well meaning and intelligent readers of your paper and would appreciate the opportunity to answer some questions my previous letter may have left too vague or incomprehensible.
Mr. Xavier Allen and others, who have written to me directly, have asked if I could quantify the cost of free education and pointed out the impracticality given the current overwhelming foreign debt and financial situation. In response, please allow me to ask if anyone can quantify the financial cost that the corruption, cronyism and general incompetence of the last 20 years have cost the people of Jamaica?
The Ministry of Education can provide the figures if you need something to work with, but our schools need serious help and the infrastructure of which Mr. Allen spoke would still need to beput in place, so the real dollar amount far exceeds even a current 'Pie in the sky' estimate. Knowing all of this, I still believe that free education and, for that matter, quality health care for ALL Jamaicans are goals that MUST be pursued so the least financially capable of Jamaicans are afforded the same opportunity as the rest. The ability of this country and its people to generate revenue has never been truly challenged. And without a leadership with vision, competence and more importantly discipline, never will be.
What I know
Here is what I know to be true: (1) The foreign debt payments will be negotiable once foreign investment and local production surges. (2) Foreign investment will surge once we take a serious approach to controlling crime and create an encouraging climate for investors. (3) Crime will go down when jobs are created for the young and an atmosphere of hope replaces the current indifference and despair.
Not so secret is the fact that thousands of 'baby boomer' Jamaicans that live in other countries want to come home but will not, given the current political climate. Many have retired, some will want to invest their knowledge and money in their country and some merely want to come home and die. Most will not come as long as crime rages unabated and, in my view, unchallenged and the competence level of the Government is so poor that their life savings could be wiped out with a single devaluation.
Another not so secret scrap of information that I find interesting is that Jamaica has investment clubs paying their members average 10 per cent monthly interest and instead of getting these gifted individuals to handle some of the government's investments, we chase them to other countries with heavy-handed tactics more akin to communist dictatorships.
So, yes, I do believe we can and will finance free education while increasing the remuneration of teachers and upgrading the schools. No, I don't smoke weed (though that needs to be legalised ... but that's another letter),and yes, I know money is not there right now. Mr. Allen, I am sure you have heard the term 'can't see the forest for the trees'. Jamaica's future (the big picture) is or can be very bright if we can just see past the festering rot in which we sit and shoo the rats eating our children's food.
We did not always have massive debt and believe it or not, that too shall pass. Giving this debt a sense of permanence is what our debtors want us and have brainwashed many of us (the whole current government for example) to do. Creating new investment and outside-the-box solutions to our financial problems, creating jobs and opportunities for our young people, eradicating hard-core crime and tackling the root causes of crime with a sense of urgency, focus and dedication is the Jamaican thing to do.
Do you not believe that if this Government had the capability, they would do it? I do. Light a candle and let us stop cursing the darkness. I believe we all want the same thing but have different realities on what it will take to achieve it. Real madness is watching the same people do the same thing over and over and expecting different results and unfortunately, I suspect that too many of us are mad.
I am, etc.,
STEPHEN F. SMITH
puttus@walla.com
Black River Via Go-Jamaica
published: Tuesday | May 22, 2007
The Editor, Sir:
I have caught a lot of flack from well meaning and intelligent readers of your paper and would appreciate the opportunity to answer some questions my previous letter may have left too vague or incomprehensible.
Mr. Xavier Allen and others, who have written to me directly, have asked if I could quantify the cost of free education and pointed out the impracticality given the current overwhelming foreign debt and financial situation. In response, please allow me to ask if anyone can quantify the financial cost that the corruption, cronyism and general incompetence of the last 20 years have cost the people of Jamaica?
The Ministry of Education can provide the figures if you need something to work with, but our schools need serious help and the infrastructure of which Mr. Allen spoke would still need to beput in place, so the real dollar amount far exceeds even a current 'Pie in the sky' estimate. Knowing all of this, I still believe that free education and, for that matter, quality health care for ALL Jamaicans are goals that MUST be pursued so the least financially capable of Jamaicans are afforded the same opportunity as the rest. The ability of this country and its people to generate revenue has never been truly challenged. And without a leadership with vision, competence and more importantly discipline, never will be.
What I know
Here is what I know to be true: (1) The foreign debt payments will be negotiable once foreign investment and local production surges. (2) Foreign investment will surge once we take a serious approach to controlling crime and create an encouraging climate for investors. (3) Crime will go down when jobs are created for the young and an atmosphere of hope replaces the current indifference and despair.
Not so secret is the fact that thousands of 'baby boomer' Jamaicans that live in other countries want to come home but will not, given the current political climate. Many have retired, some will want to invest their knowledge and money in their country and some merely want to come home and die. Most will not come as long as crime rages unabated and, in my view, unchallenged and the competence level of the Government is so poor that their life savings could be wiped out with a single devaluation.
Another not so secret scrap of information that I find interesting is that Jamaica has investment clubs paying their members average 10 per cent monthly interest and instead of getting these gifted individuals to handle some of the government's investments, we chase them to other countries with heavy-handed tactics more akin to communist dictatorships.
So, yes, I do believe we can and will finance free education while increasing the remuneration of teachers and upgrading the schools. No, I don't smoke weed (though that needs to be legalised ... but that's another letter),and yes, I know money is not there right now. Mr. Allen, I am sure you have heard the term 'can't see the forest for the trees'. Jamaica's future (the big picture) is or can be very bright if we can just see past the festering rot in which we sit and shoo the rats eating our children's food.
We did not always have massive debt and believe it or not, that too shall pass. Giving this debt a sense of permanence is what our debtors want us and have brainwashed many of us (the whole current government for example) to do. Creating new investment and outside-the-box solutions to our financial problems, creating jobs and opportunities for our young people, eradicating hard-core crime and tackling the root causes of crime with a sense of urgency, focus and dedication is the Jamaican thing to do.
Do you not believe that if this Government had the capability, they would do it? I do. Light a candle and let us stop cursing the darkness. I believe we all want the same thing but have different realities on what it will take to achieve it. Real madness is watching the same people do the same thing over and over and expecting different results and unfortunately, I suspect that too many of us are mad.
I am, etc.,
STEPHEN F. SMITH
puttus@walla.com
Black River Via Go-Jamaica
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