TWENTY-FIVE of Jamaica’s educators received the ultimate Teacher’s Day gift last Wednesday night, when they were honoured with the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for long and outstanding service to education at a ceremony at Jamaica House.

The educators, many of whom have already retired, included:

. Dr Sydney Beaumont, former president of West Indies College, now Northern Caribbean University, in Mandeville;

. Hyacinth Forde, who spent most of her professional life at Cornwall College in Montego Bay; and

. Lady Yvonne Richardson, who still serves at St Andrew Preparatory in the parish of the same name.

The other recipients were:

. Rev Dr Basil Chambers, Phyllis Clarke and Mazie Clunis;

. Pernell Crossman, Bruce Dale and Arlington Dyer;

. Byron Farquharson, Jeremiah Golding and Evelyn Gyles;

. Doris Hamilton-Willie, Marjorie Henry and Freda Jones;

. Sonia Knowles, Edna McKoy and Veronica Murray-Christie;

. Dr Claude Packer; Phyllis Reynolds and Ewart Smythe;

. Altie Spence, Valorie Tinglin and Beverley Ulett; as well as

. May Whittley and Ena Young.

“I’m very pleased,” Dr Beaumont told the Sunday Observer after the function last Wednesday. “I think they were very kind to have thought about it knowing that I’m old, and for giving it to me before I die.” Beaumont, founder of Beaumont Comprehensive College in Mandeville, is 89 and spent 50 years in the field of education.

Forde, who has spent a total of 42 years in the classroom – both at home and abroad – was also pleased to have been given national recognition for her service to education.

“Teaching is my life. The road has been rough, but it was a rewarding experience,” she said. “Many of my students have become policemen, lawyers, firemen, doctors… There have been so many success stories,” she said.

She added that managing director of the National Housing Trust (NHT) Earl Samuels; executive editor in charge of operations at the Observer, Desmond Allen; and CVM Television’s president and CEO David McBean were some examples.

In the main address, given by Prime Minister Simpson Miller, she congratulated the teachers for the contribution they have made to nation building.

“While all the programmes (entailed in the transformation of education initiative) are valuable, the most effective change agents in our schools are you: caring, compassionate, committed teachers and school leaders who interact with students on a daily basis. Teachers, you are the frontliners,” she said.

Simpson Miller, however, echoed sentiments expressed earlier this week by several educators and child care interests that improvements in classroom situations is hinged, to a great extent, on good parenting.

“I am in no way saying that teachers can or should take over the role of parents or guardians. My intention is simply to highlight the great contributon that teachers can make and are making as partners in the home-school relationship,” she reiterated.

In her remarks, Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry Wilson, congratulated the awardees for their dedication to the profession and said the ministry remained committed to the professional development of teachers.

Earlier in the day, the ministry officially launched the $600-million Teachers’ Professional Development Revolving Loan Fund at a function at the Hilton Kingston Hotel in the capital. The fund will provide up to 90 per cent financing to teachers for tertiary studies done in public institutions.

The Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation was inaugurated in 2005 and is awarded during Education Week – the first full week in May. It recognises significant contributions to the field of education and to the development of the country, and may be awarded to any teacher with a minimum of 15 years who has demonstrated outstanding service and who is involved in the community. A total of 40 medals may be awarded in any given year.