Dennis Meadows pushes education as political campaigning begins
CLARKS TOWN, Trelawny – Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for North Trelawny Dennis Meadows says if elected in the upcoming general elections, he will establish a major education programme in an effort to tackle the high level of illiteracy in the area.
The initiative – CARE (Community Adult Remedial Education) – the JLP hopeful said, will seek to harness the expertise of retired teachers in the parish.
“Already I have been going around and making a list of all the retired teachers in the constituency because I intend to take them out of retirement and put them to good use,” Meadows told cheering party supporters at the launch of his political campaign in Clarks Town, Trelawny Sunday night.
While Meadows did not give any figures as to the illiteracy rate in the constituency, a 1994 STATIN report said the number of illiterates in the parish stood at 65.2 per cent.
The constituency of North Trelawny is said to account for more than 60 per cent of the parish’s population.
“Going around (the constituency) I see many youths unable to read and write properly, and while it’s not entirely their fault something must be done to address the problem,” Meadows told the gathering on Sunday night.
He said ‘CARE’ would be funded from the two-and-a-half per cent of the budgetary allocation that Opposition leader Bruce Golding said would be distributed evenly across the constituencies for development projects, if the JLP forms the next government.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader has described the JLP hopeful as a part of the “agent of change” that is sweeping across the island.
“If you are fighting a battle for rights and justice you can’t find a better fighter than Dennis Meadows,” Golding told the party supporters. “If you live in a community where you feel that you hop off of the front page where you feel that you have been neglected and abandoned by a government and you want somebody that will fight for recognition and attention for your community you can’t find any better fighter that Dennis Meadows,” added Golding.
The People’s National Party (PNP’s) Dr Patrick Harris is the sitting member of parliament for the constituency.
