THE EDITOR, Sir:
BEING AN educator (a classroom teacher), has taught me some invaluable lessons about the society in which I live, many positive, some absolutely exasperating. When one teaches in schools at the opposite ends of the social spectrum, one becomes aware of the deep divisions in our land, the prejudices, assumptions of one group for the other, and even more alarming, the deep distrust they harbour for each other. I have pondered this as I listen to little jeering comments they have each made about the other and I wondered what the education system could do about this, or whether it should concern itself with that at all, and then I thought.
Internationally the concept of student exchanges has been extolled as a means of furthering global peace and understanding. Well, what if we were to have some locally? What if, for a specified period of time, most likely much shorter than the foreign exchanges, students from certain sectors were to spend some time in schools from a completely different sector? Could that possibly have some sort of positive impact as students from the two or more Jamaicas got a chance to interact? Can you imagine the new-found respect that could be garnered here, the transference of values, the introductions to new worlds?
WEALTH OF INFORMATION
While I pondered and pondered this for some time, I noticed with interest the statements made by our current Rhodes Scholar, Ramon Arscott, who spoke about the wealth of information and appreciation he had gained from his interactions with different sectors of the Jamaican society. I felt a sense of excitement as I thought about more students becoming involved in activities that could take them out of their narrow spheres and how much less narrow as individuals this could make them. As an educator, this excited me as not much else in the system in recent times had, for ultimately, if education is not making us better individuals, then what is its purpose?
I know, there are concerns for people's safety as many inner-city schools are in inner-city areas, (to which the students would say 'duh'), and people would be concerned about their children's safety and THE SYLLABUS. But in the long run is it more important to have a few people who perform brilliantly, but who have been so cushioned from the realities of the society in which they live and are unaware of and uninterested in the education process? Wouldn't one of the benefits of such an exchange be the transference of ideas and values, which could result in a more equitable spread throughout the system and throughout the nation? Isn't this a worthwhile idea? Something to think about.
I am, etc.,
FRANKLENE FRATER
