Patterson and Whiteman
MINISTER OF Educa-tion, Senator Burchell Whiteman, last Monday sought to dismiss suggestions that he and the Prime Minister had held different views on his announced dismissal of several teachers.
According to the Minister who was addressing members of the Rotary Club of Mandeville at the Golf View Hotel, the allegations were being advanced by persons who wanted to be 'mischievous'.
According to the Education Minister the country's present education system is working quite well, but his Ministry, he said, is striving to eliminate the inefficiencies.
Pointing out that teachers coming into the system are now being paid in excess of $400,000 per year in comparison to $24,000 in the 1980s, Senator Whiteman also said that a significantly greater percentage of students who are qualified are now entering tertiary institutions.
But when questioned, he was unable to say what percentage of prospective students are unable to enter universities due to financial constraints, noting that such information required study.
Conceding that the present education system is turning out a significant number of 'functional illiterates' he cautioned, however, that it should not be inferred that the system is turning out an army of such students.
