It became obvious very early after the appointment of The Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald as Minister of Education that he did not believe in or support the office and function of Guidance Counselors in the school system, as soon thereafter he convened a meeting and asked us to explain and give validation to our viability and necessity. Well I just returned home today from my summer vacation only to hear on the news that beginning September there will be a STUDENT PROGRESS OFFICER placed in every school, charged with the single responsibility of tracking and ensuring the students success. Well slap me and call me stupid but I thought that was the Job of the Guidance Counselor. So I guess this is the start of the phasing out of Counselors under this minister. Now as a GC myself, I will readily say that there is a lot to be done in the area of students success but MR. MINISTER, there is a whole lot more to do than just creating a new job position. If you are truly interested in student success, here are a few suggestions: 1. You need to resign. This is not me being political but I say this because one of the major issues with the system is that there are to many non educators dictating the direction and making policies for education. 2. We need a national long term plan for education that doesnt change because the Minister or the Government does. Along with a total revamping of the system gearing students toward areas of their interests. 3. We need adequately furnished and stocked with supplies schools and classrooms. 4. Principals along with their administrative teams must be allowed to run their schools void of political and headquarters dictation. 5. Discipline or the ability to discipline must be returned to each individual teacher. 6. Educators must be paid as the professionals that they are. This is a good place to start. The only thing this new post is going to do is give some party supporter a job. My question is this What are these persons qualifications? and Where and when did they receive this qualification? It has been said that there is no money so Where is the money coming from to pay them? When we stop playing politics and make real decisions in the best interest of these children then we can expect success in the schools but the change must begin at the top and trickle down. Nobody asked me but I just thought Id give my 30 cents on the matter.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:45:14 +0000
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