Why Mr Ronnie Thwaites cannot and must not fail!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Today, Mr Ronald 'Ronnie' Thwaites will undertake one of the most important and compelling missions he will ever face in his tenure as the education minister of Jamaica.

He is scheduled to visit the Haile Selassie High School, ensconced in the troubled inner-city of Payne Avenue in the westend of the capital city.

Mr Thwaites will go there ostensibly to support the school's annual expo which showcases students' work and talent. But more importantly, it is being hoped that the visit of the reverend minister will bolster the school's efforts to overcome its many obstacles and challenges.

Haile Selassie High, as an extension of the community, has been going through some recent trauma. In the past year alone, it has lost three students to violence in the area, the most recent being in December. The principal and the team of teachers have been working assidiously to ensure that the violence does not demotivate the students and damage their chances of getting an education but that is easier said than done.

Activities, like the annual expo, are aimed at improving the image of the school and community and adding value to the students' self image and encouraging them to bond more with their school.

Hopefully, Mr Thwaites, an articulate man who sometimes show commendable passion for his endeavours, will not merely go to Haile Selassie High as part of a soulless duty to visit schools and show his face, consequent on becoming education minister. Neither is he to go there spouting empty platitudes, of which he is also sometimes guilty.

Many inner-city schools, like this one, are under seige. On any given day, the teachers, students and ancillary staff must face the possibility of violence within the community and the school itself, as students turn on each other, much like they see their elders doing. And this is not to mention the daily struggles with lack of resources which is a perennial problem in the 'poorer' Jamaican schools.

While Mr Thwaites was a talkshow host, he frequently fulminated on the myriad of problems holding back our schools at all levels, especially the secondary schools.

He will now find as education minister, that what seemed so easy to solve in the ivory tower of a radio broadcast, is suddenly not so easy in the real world of an embattled classroom.

If there is one thing the school children themselves know well, it is that the solution to the problems has long defied various administrations and all the answers can't be found in the head of one person, even if he or she is as brilliant as the Rev Mr Thwaites.

What we are sure the community of Haile Selassie High, as well as all such other institutions of education, is expecting, is an astute minister who would empathise with their situation and apply his mind with every ounce of his energy to craft partnerships with the ministry, the school community and the wider society to seek these solutions together.

His visit is a start and nothing more. Thank God that it does not cost any money to do that. If he sends the right signal, he will lift the donwhearted and motivate the cynical to want to try again.

Mr Thwaites cannot fail. He must not fail!