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Education Minister urges Church to get more involved

July 17, 2012

The Full Story

Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, says there is need for the engagement of the Church in the education process, as it did in times past.

Addressing the 53rd Annual Conference of the Association of Methodist Men’s Fellowship, at the York Castle High School, Brown’s Town, St. Ann, on July 15, the Minister called on church members to get more involved in educational institutions, and in mentoring the young in those facilities.

Pointing out that the churches combined, control almost half of the educational institutions in Jamaica, he asked if persons understand the power of such dominance within the education sector.

"At the early childhood level, if the congregation does not have an early childhood centre (close by), find one that you can adopt. Invite yourselves into it, whether it is an infant school or a community school,” he urged.

The Minister underscored the importance of the teaching and learning of English in schools, noting that it can lead to major improvement in the education system.

"In our primary schools, there is need for help in the area of literacy,” he said, and called for more interaction between persons from outside and inside the education system.

Rev. Thwaites said his own experience is pointing to a hunger from the young people of the nation for good wholesome examples to emulate. “Good example is as infectious as bad example; indeed it is more powerful,” he said.

He argued that a family relationship involving a man and a woman who are there to help with the upbringing and upliftment of a child, will result in more wholesome children, and that the most godlike thing that any man or woman can be is to be a good parent, which is better for the children and better for the nation.

By Bryan Miler, JIS Reporter

Last Updated: July 29, 2013

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