Residents urged to agitate for quality education

MANDEVILLE — Mayor of Black River, Councillor Jeremy Palmer, has called on residents to push for quality educational delivery with the same fervor as they do for roads, water and other infrastructure.

He lamented that when he attends community meetings, there is little or no agitation for properly run schools and quality output from these institutions and is encouraging residents to put the schools in their communities at the top of their agenda, when they meet with their political representatives.

“Not because the impact of poor education and the impact on the community is not going to be seen (immediately) why we should not do something about it (now). We need to look forward and be proactive,” Mayor Palmer stated at the recent monthly meeting of the St. Elizabeth Parish Council.

He told the meeting that for far too long, the Council has concerned itself with everything except the monitoring of educational delivery in the parish, and, acting on a recommendation from Councillor for the Black River Division, Mordant Mitchell, he appointed Councillor for the Lacovia Division, George Powell, to chair the new Education Committee of the Parish Council.

“This committee will be monitoring the state of education in the parish. It will be receiving regular reports on the performance of our students on the various exams… particularly those at the primary schools,” he informed.

The committee, he said, will also assess the performance of teachers and the state of school plants, including availability of water and security concerns.

The education committee, the Mayor said, is expected to produce fruitful results. “We are expecting to strike up a very helpful partnership with the Ministry of Education, and the other stakeholders so that we can produce some results and overall improvement in the quality of education,” Mr. Palmer said.

The St. Elizabeth Parish Council, late last year, awarded three nursing scholarships to students in the parish.

By GARFIELD L. ANGUS, JIS Reporter