Such was the shortage of trained teachers at the time, that Wilbert Wallace could have had a job any where in the Jamaican primary school system 35 years ago.

But as Wallace who has been principal of the Schoolfield All-age since 1993 tells it, his only desire on completing college training at the Mico College in Kingston was to return to his native district of Schoolfield, close to Malvern in the Santa Cruz Mountains of St Elizabeth.

“I returned home because I knew I had a contribution to make,” Wallace who is now on pre-retirement, leave told friends and admirers at a recent ceremony put on by the New York-based Social Agenda for Education (SAFE).

During the ceremony, SAFE honoured Wallace and two of his retired colleagues, Dorrett Genus and Eda Lewis, presenting awards and citations for their “long and dedicated service” to the Schoolfield All-Age School.

SAFE, a non-profit fund-raising and charitable organisation also provided the Dudley McGregor Scholarships (cash donations) to three outstanding students from Schoolfield and the Mt Osbourn Primary School, located three miles away in Meribah, close to Leeds.

Wallace triggered laughter and cheers when he told of people’s surprise that he had chosen to spend more than 30 of his 35 years as a trained teacher in his home district.

“People say to me, ‘Mr Wallace where you come from?’ I reply Schoolfield. ‘Then where yu work?’ I tell them Schoolfield. They then ask ‘where you live?’ and I still have to tell them Schoolfield,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of Lewis, who spent 26 years at Schoolfield and an absent Genus who taught at the school for 28 years, Wallace said he and his fellow teachers had served “not for money” but for the “satisfaction” gained from helping to transform the lives of children.

Wallace paid tribute to SAFE which started out 16 years ago as an organisation dedicated to the Schoolfield All-Age but which had since spread its wings to embrace Jamaican communities and schools, far and wide. He recalled that down the years, SAFE had been of great help – providing the school with a range of equipment including computers and in building maintenance and repairs.

Students Andrew Ellison and Krishunna Williams of Mt Osbourn and Toshia Hanson of Schoolfield received the Dudley McGregor Scholarships worth US$500 to assist with their education.

President of SAFE, Elton Bruce said the scholarships were, reward for the “high quality” shown by the students in an essay competition.

Bruce congratulated Schoolfield and Mt Osbourn for the “spirit of co-operation” that had seen them joining hands in the scholarship programme. Theirs was an example that should be followed by other communities, he said.

Chairman of the function, Osbourn Dockery, credited SAFE, the retired teachers and the young scholarship winners for a “wonderful, wonderful” job.