Good Parenting Key – Minister Thwaites

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, says the Ministry is doing its part to promote good parenting as a key element in the education process.

Rev. Thwaites, who was addressing the school leaving and prize giving ceremony of the Ferncourt High School held on Wednesday, June 26, at the Beechamville Methodist Church in Claremont, St. Ann, stated that the “greatest cramp to effective education in Jamaica is inadequate parenting”.

He said it is in recognition of the important role that parents play in their children’s education and development that the Ministry has set up a National Parenting Commission.

The work of the Commission, he said, will involve the establishment of parenting advisory offices across the island “so that we can give support for those who are parents, or who are going to be parents, so that they may know and play their role better.”

The Education Minister endorsed the recent call by Minister of Youth and Culture and Member of Parliament for South East St. Ann, Hon. Lisa Hanna, for all adults to take responsibility for the children they bring into this world. He said it is good advice that all Jamaicans need to follow, even in the face of difficulty.

Rev. Thwaites called on the approximately 200 graduates to pledge to be good parents of the children, who they mother and father, when they decide to start a family.

“We have to craft a new vision of family, a joyous vision, a vision of wholesomeness if we are really going to be a developed society, if we are going to have a society of settled people, and of responsible child bearing,” he stated.

Rev. Thwaites also commended the teachers, for the role they have been playing in the development of their students.

He said that his Ministry is looking forward to more teachers “qualifying themselves and strengthening their ability to be real school leaders”.

He noted that some 150 teachers will be going on productive study leave this year, in order to upgrade themselves in the disciplines that they are teaching in school. This, he argued, will be beneficial to the teacher, students and the wider community.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hanna, who brought greetings at the ceremony, encouraged the graduates to put a plan in place as to where they would like to be in five to 10 years.

“I truly hope that a part of where you would like to be is not only in Jamaica but building South Eastern St. Ann,” she stated.

She mentioned a number of developments slated to take place in the constituency, including the construction of a new high school within the next two years.

Contact: Bryan Miller