President and chief executive officer of Scotiabank Jamaica William ‘Bill’ Clarke has urged the Government to make education a greater priority in its affairs in order to take Jamaica out of poverty.

Clarke, who retires as head of the country’s largest financial institution next month, said that teachers should not be spending time raising money for schools, but that schools should be properly equipped by the state so that teachers could focus on their jobs.

“I believe that Government has an obligation to treat our teachers well, to encourage them to be teachers. They are not asking for exorbitant salaries. They are not asking for SUVs and stuff that others are enjoying. If they are being asked to be miracle workers then for God’s sake, someone should take time out to recognise them,” Clarke said.

“Why should teachers have to threaten to disrupt school before their needs are taken care of? Why should our teachers be fund-raisers?” he asked.

Clarke’s comments came as the Government and the Jamaica Teachers Association are engaged in contract negotiations for the period 2008 to 2010.

The relations between the teachers and the Government has been cold over recent weeks following statements that high schools students were being asked to pay steep auxiliary fees. Prime Minister Bruce Golding irked teachers in July when he likened the auxiliary fees being charged by some schools to extortion.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw also said that the principals were not being creative enough in raising money for the schools without resorting to charging auxiliary fees.

Speaking at Scotiabank Foundation’s annual Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) awards luncheon in St Andrew on Saturday, Clarke also expressed his support of performance-based pay for teachers.

“Government has a responsibility to structure the system so that teachers are paid based on their performance and not just because they turn up for school,” he stated.

The Scotiabank president noted that in Costa Rica, the Government took the decision to make education their first priority, even at the expense of infrastructure such as roads. The result, he said, was that persons with first degrees were working as front desk clerks and as housekeepers in hotels, or pumping gas at petrol stations.

“It was therefore not surprising that huge technology companies like Intel went to Costa Rica to set up plants that they should normally set up in Silicon Valley in California,” he said.

“It is not good enough to say we would like to eliminate poverty, in my judgement, the first route to eliminating poverty in our country is through education,” added Clarke.

He also urged parents to spend more time with their children to help them to be successful in school. “If a child comes home and gets a ‘B’ don’t say it is good enough. If a ‘B’ was good enough there would be no ‘A’,” he said.