This was announced by Government senator and chairman of the JFLL Hyacinth Bennett as she addressed the end of year luncheon and staff awards ceremony in Kingston on Friday.

Lamenting the falling standards within the country, Senator Bennett called upon the nearly 300 JFLL employees to embrace the challenge. "We need a new breed of educators," she opined. "In the realities of the 21st century, you must ensure that you are on the cutting edge - forget the old notions of talk and chalk - get on the Internet, challenge your charges by stimulating them in new ways. You MUST do everything within your power to impact the students across the country and so empower them to play a more active role in nation building."

One-day workshop

According to Bennett, the programme of upgrading will 'go far beyond the one-day workshop kind of scenario, it will be thorough and comprehensive, and at the end of the process you will have to be certified.' To much applause, the chairman indicated that an enhanced compensation package would await the teachers at the end of the process to reward their diligence and pursuit of excellence.

In closing, she turned to the issue of attitudes as the ultimate determinant of success. "It is indispensable. We must all develop, nurture and fine-tune our attitudes, for with 87.5 per cent of the right content, and 12.5 pere cent of sound subject content - transformative success is assured."

Some 140 staff members of the JFLL were honoured for long service ranging between 10 and 36 years in full-time administration, part-time and voluntary teaching, with the longest-serving employee being Hyacinth Morrison, a volunteer teacher in the community of Doncaster, Manchester.