Woman with a vision
Today, The Gleaner presents the first in a series of features on the candidates contesting the 2004/05 Jamaica Teachers' Association's presidential elections slated for June 21 to 25. See part two tomorrow.
LAST YEAR, Cecelia Grant-Francis lost the Jamaica Teachers' Association's elections for the 2003/04 presidency polling 3,766 votes to Michael Clarke's 6,661. However, this has not deterred her from making another attempt at the JTA presidency.
"My colleagues have that firm belief and moreso, I have that firm belief in myself that I can represent teachers," said Mrs. Francis on Wednesday, during an interview at Kilsyth Primary School, Clarendon, where she has been principal since January 2001.
SACRIFICIAL SERVICE
She is encouraged by what she describes as her more than 27 years of unflinching and sacrificial service to the JTA and to education.
If she is elected president she has several goals she would work to implement.
"I still maintain that education should be given priority," she said, adding that the government often referred to education as one of its priority but 'it is yet to be seen in action'. As a consequence, she said, teachers in some schools continued to work in uncomfortable conditions with large class sizes and there was still the issue of inadequate furniture for both students and teachers.
INDISCIPLINE
Mrs. Grant-Francis, called 'Region' for her contribution as an educator to schools in the JTA's south central region, made up of Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, intends to advocate for compulsory education for students and for specialist teachers to be employed at the primary level in all schools to provide the attention demanded by some students, especially those with reading and physical disabilities.
But of equal importance, she said, the level of indiscipline in schools must be addressed as an alarming challenge. "Where there is indiscipline in the society, the children do not learn well, and so I want for all stakeholders parents, students and the Ministry (of Education) to see indiscipline as a serious concern."
Mrs. Grant-Francis says there is a need for greater protection and security of students and teachers in schools.
For her, to become JTA president would be a deserving opportunity to serve teachers at the utmost - a duty she began fulfilling as three-time parish president of the JTA, Clarendon. She has held other positions in the organisation such as chairman of the professional advancement committee, member of the general council and central executive and for several years, a member of the international relations committee.
AWARDS
She has been the recipient of, among others, the JTA Award for outstanding contribution as a member of its professional advancement committee, the Sangster's Book Shop award for service to education, the 1998 Lasco Teacher-of- the-month Award and the R.C. Tavares Award for outstanding educational service.
In her bid for the 2004/05 presidency, Mrs. Grant-Francis, who describes herself as one with a vision and a mission for educational opportunities, maintains that "The race is not for the swift, it is for those who will endure to the end. When the people vote, I will accept the people's choice... But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
