Dear Editor,
I was a bit startled to read the Observer news report "Reinvent yourselves, Thwaites tells unemployed teachers" on August 5, 2013. The minister of education, speaking at a job fair at the ministry's office, was basically telling over 1,000 unemployed teachers "to look elsewhere for work".
Now, we are well aware of the economic crisis facing the country, but the education sector is perhaps the most critical. Yet, ironically, it is perhaps the most crucial for propelling Jamaica's development.
Shouldn't the ministry and Government be looking at innovative ways to use these teachers to help the education sector which has been problematic for some time? I believe it is Government that needs to reinvent itself. Isn't it startling that a country of our size would have as many as 1,000 unemployed teachers turning up at a job fair as they can't find work in education?
Frankly, I would set up learning facilities in outdoor tents if I had to; there are so many students struggling from early education to GSAT and CSEC levels. Our literacy rate is also well beyond that of other Caribbean countries. According to Wikipedia, Jamaica's literacy rate is 87.9 per cent, while Barbados is 99 per cent, and the difference in standard of living and economic progress between both countries is well known.
Each year we also hear of thousands of students in Jamaica who fail to pass even one subject in CSEC. And the minister is proudly telling these teachers to reinvent themselves and that the "days of walking out of university and straight into job" are over? I just don't get it!
P Chin
chin_p@yahoo.com
How about reinventing yourselves?
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I was a bit startled to read the Observer news report "Reinvent yourselves, Thwaites tells unemployed teachers" on August 5, 2013. The minister of education, speaking at a job fair at the ministry's office, was basically telling over 1,000 unemployed teachers "to look elsewhere for work".
Now, we are well aware of the economic crisis facing the country, but the education sector is perhaps the most critical. Yet, ironically, it is perhaps the most crucial for propelling Jamaica's development.
Shouldn't the ministry and Government be looking at innovative ways to use these teachers to help the education sector which has been problematic for some time? I believe it is Government that needs to reinvent itself. Isn't it startling that a country of our size would have as many as 1,000 unemployed teachers turning up at a job fair as they can't find work in education?
Frankly, I would set up learning facilities in outdoor tents if I had to; there are so many students struggling from early education to GSAT and CSEC levels. Our literacy rate is also well beyond that of other Caribbean countries. According to Wikipedia, Jamaica's literacy rate is 87.9 per cent, while Barbados is 99 per cent, and the difference in standard of living and economic progress between both countries is well known.
Each year we also hear of thousands of students in Jamaica who fail to pass even one subject in CSEC. And the minister is proudly telling these teachers to reinvent themselves and that the "days of walking out of university and straight into job" are over? I just don't get it!
P Chin
chin_p@yahoo.com
How about reinventing yourselves?
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