Invest in Your Children – Henry-Wilson

Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry-Wilson, has appealed to parents to invest in their children, especially those entering the secondary level of their education.
“As parents, be prepared to take them along the next step of the journey, because that leg of the journey is even more challenging than this (primary) leg,” Mrs. Henry-Wilson stated, as she addressed the St. George’s Girls Primary and Infant School Valedictory Service held today (June 5) at the St. George’s Anglican Church, downtown Kingston.
According to the Education Minister, primary schooling was just the beginning of the education process. “Although we need to congratulate them and celebrate with them what they have achieved, we also need to give them a sense that it is but one, albeit important, but just one milestone. They have not yet entered on a main part of the journey,” she pointed out.
Minister Henry-Wilson further noted that the expectations of parents and teachers should not end at graduation from primary school, but should continue in high school.
In the meantime, she encouraged the young students “to take the road ahead that is paved with tremendous opportunities,” which may possibly result in them achieving as much as Barrington Irving, the Jamaican born pilot, who recently became the first black pilot to complete a solo mission around the world.
The only all girls primary school in the island, St. George’s Girls Primary marks its 103rd anniversary this year.
The institution has a number of distinguished alumni including Her Excellency Rheima Holding Hall, wife of the Governor-General; Paula Llewellyn, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions; and Barbara Gloudon, one of Jamaica’s foremost playwrights and radio broadcaster.