Mr Whiteman, we cannot cope! THE EDITOR, Sir: SPLASHED ACROSS the front page of The Gleaner on Monday, June 4 are the words, 'We can cope'. This is the Hon. Burchell Whiteman's response to the recruiting of teachers from Jamaica to fill posts in the USA. When the Columbine massacre occurred, the then President of the USA ensured that additional funds were disseminated to boost the teacher-pupil ratio. This he said would allow the teachers to interact with students therefore knowing them. This he hoped would prevent a recurrence. When the USA recruits teachers, they will be looking for our more experienced ones. No one knows where they will be assigned, i.e., troublesome schools, and good ones, Ivy League etc. We hope they will cope. How can we in Jamaica cope when the primary school teacher has 40-60 students in her class, when 17-year-olds are unleashed on the society not functionally literate, and when Government is laying off teachers. Can't we be more pro-active and reduce the student-teacher ratio to maximise our children's potential? For the future, will we only concentrate on producing semi-literates who cannot get a job, are rude, have no social graces and become a menace to society? Think again, Mr. Whiteman. We cannot cope, not until all our children are exposed to the same level of education between ages 3-16. The nursing profession has lost personnel to recruiting in the past, and those left here are not coping. I am, etc., WINSOME SLATER AZAN Kingston 10
|
