Dear Sirs,
It is surprising that Minister Thwaites has seen it fit to meet with J-FLAG to discuss training of guidance counsellors.
Based on my knowledge, guidance counsellors go through years of vigorous training in order to meet the various needs of children in the education system. Is the Ministry of Education now saying its guidance counsellors lack training or is the ministry succumbing to external pressure? Can we now expect the ministry to call in experts to deal with other issues such as suicidal tendencies or poor self-esteem amongst students?
The latest push to get certain information classified as “sex education” in schools seems like a coordinated effort by special interest groups. No empirical data has been provided by the newly installed president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (JAGCE) to back claims of bias against a particular group of students. The fact that some students have come to the president to complain does not mean that there is a widespread abuse of authority or lack of sensitivity by guidance counsellors in our schools. Rather this could be a renewed push to impact the school curriculum.
It cannot be that some acts are deemed “more equal” than others so they require special intervention rather than the already established protocols and guidelines.
The hard-working Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, and by extension his ministry, should not be swayed by political correctness or external groups. We ask the president of JAGCE to produce the evidence of bias being exhibited by Christian guidance counsellors. Without the evidence, statements questioning the professionalism of our counsellors seem premature.
The Ministry of Education must be aware that Jamaican parents will not sit idly by while an attempt is made to formalise the sexual grooming of our children in the nation’s schools.
Marsha Thomas
marshburns@hotmail.com
It is surprising that Minister Thwaites has seen it fit to meet with J-FLAG to discuss training of guidance counsellors.
Based on my knowledge, guidance counsellors go through years of vigorous training in order to meet the various needs of children in the education system. Is the Ministry of Education now saying its guidance counsellors lack training or is the ministry succumbing to external pressure? Can we now expect the ministry to call in experts to deal with other issues such as suicidal tendencies or poor self-esteem amongst students?
The latest push to get certain information classified as “sex education” in schools seems like a coordinated effort by special interest groups. No empirical data has been provided by the newly installed president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (JAGCE) to back claims of bias against a particular group of students. The fact that some students have come to the president to complain does not mean that there is a widespread abuse of authority or lack of sensitivity by guidance counsellors in our schools. Rather this could be a renewed push to impact the school curriculum.
It cannot be that some acts are deemed “more equal” than others so they require special intervention rather than the already established protocols and guidelines.
The hard-working Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, and by extension his ministry, should not be swayed by political correctness or external groups. We ask the president of JAGCE to produce the evidence of bias being exhibited by Christian guidance counsellors. Without the evidence, statements questioning the professionalism of our counsellors seem premature.
The Ministry of Education must be aware that Jamaican parents will not sit idly by while an attempt is made to formalise the sexual grooming of our children in the nation’s schools.
Marsha Thomas
marshburns@hotmail.com