Teachers Urged to be Positive Role Models for Students

Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry Wilson, has urged teachers to continue to act as positive role models for students, in order to bring back peace and discipline in schools.
“When I look at some of the persons, who we hold as role models, we are running the great danger of becoming a nation that is just going to sink into anarchy. Who is going to save us; it must be our teachers. You have a ready audience in front of you, you have students who are depending on you,” she said at the Jamaica College Teacher’s Day award ceremony held yesterday (May 9) at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.
The Education Minister acknowledged that while the classroom can be very challenging, teachers have the “tremendous responsibility” of ensuring that they are mentors and counsellors for their students. “Students want leadership, they want guidance, they don’t want teachers who are friends, they want teachers who are counsellors and mentors, that is who they want and you have an awesome responsibility,” she told the teachers.
“We have reached the point where bad manners is nothing, people coming to school late is nothing, until everything is nothing. We have to put a stop to it and teachers have to lead that charge. The classroom is a very difficult place but we have to, in solidarity, work together. Jamaica needs you, we cannot make it without you,” she stressed.
Mrs. Henry Wilson further challenged the teachers and administration of Jamaica Collage to lead the way in restoring some of the positive values to the classroom and to return the institution to its former glory.
“Jamaica College is a reputable institution that is the alma mater of many prominent Jamaicans . Jamaica College has to return to that value of excellence, embracing world class standards, not Jamaican standards,” she stated.
In the meantime, the Education and Youth Minister also called on parents to invest in their children’s education.
“The investment that you make in your child now, the time, the energy, it will pay exponentially. You will never regret that time that you have given and they pass off so quickly, so before you know it, they (children) are gone out of school and those days never come back. The time that you spend now is really quality time,” she stressed.
In his remarks, President of the National Parent Teachers’ Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), Sylvester Anderson, commended the teachers and principal of Jamaica College for their dedication in helping to shape the lives of the children.
The ceremony was held under the heme: ‘Transformation -Embracing Excellence’.