THE EDITOR, Sir:
EVERYONE SPEAKS of free education, I have long come to the realisation that only talk is FREE, and you better not say anything that could get you in court for libel either.
What is the cost to properly equip and operate a school to standerds that would be acceptable in the real world, with say 1,200 children? Can someone provide a cost per child? This should include paying qualified teachers a realistic salary.
Education should be run by a statuary corporation, like the Port Authority. This may deflate the political football it has become, and give the children a real chance to an education and not the farce it has become in Jamaica.
I can remember children from Latin America attending boarding schools in Jamaica to learn English. What great schools we had then; however they were not free. There is no free lunch, and government cannot give you anything unless they take it from someone else.
I attended Calabar, I paid a visit there about two years ago and tears came to my eyes. I suggest that every Calabar Old Boy give US$300 per year (minimum) for, say, 30 years. I estimate that the school would be able to have an endowment fund that could grow by one million per year.
I will send my contribution right after the Hon. P.J. Patterson.
I am etc,
DAVID GUILFOYLE.
17 Durham Drive
Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Via Go-Jamaica
