Please permit me to share my thoughts about education in Jamaica from the vantage point of an educator who has worked for over 15 years at the tertiary level. Most of these years have been spent in teaching student-teachers. I must hasten to say that there are some wonderful students that I have been privileged to teach, and there are some whom I teach currently.

It goes without saying that we cannot expect to have a high standard of education unless we have teachers to uphold those standards. It is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain high standards at the college level as the quality of students deteriorate from year to year. The academic performance, especially in English language, is way below what is acceptable, but attitudes to authority have deteriorated considerably,

This impacts negatively on the teaching/learning experience.

Basic tools for school

There was a time, for example, when students in primary school knew that a dictionary was one of the basic tools that students needed in order to do well in English or any other subject for that matter. Now, some student-teachers defend their right to be in a college English classes without dictionaries and threaten to report to the Joint Board of Teacher Education that they are being told that they are not allowed in the college English class without their dictionaries.

Some argue that as adults they should be free to be in the class with or without a dictionary. Can you imagine what will happen when these student-teachers reach the classroom as teachers and start defending their right to be without the tools of their trade?

Quality control demands that the selection process be modified to include not only aptitude, but also attitude that is measured scientifically if we are to maintain high standards in our schools. Academic achievement is important; however, it is our values and attitudes that will determine the kind of society that we create. Our children deserve the best quality teachers, so we need to maintain high standards in our teacher-training institutions.

I am, etc.

WINNIE ANDERSON-BROWN

winab@cwjamaica.com