Dear Editor,

I wish to comment on a point made by Education Minister Ronald Thwaites, in the article in the Western Mirror of January 11, 2012, “Education Minister to focus on underperforming schools”. Mr Thwaites said “effort will be concentrated on advancing the early childhood sector through a working plan ‘which offers practical possibilities for the registration of our pre-primary institutions, their better governance and as far as possible, steps forward to have at least one trained early childhood teacher introduced over a period of time in each institution’.”

My dear Education Minister, I would like to inform you that your objectives are already met. The question I asked as a trained early childhood teacher working in a basic school that already has a trained teacher is, what are your plans for us as trained teachers already in the system and teaching at a basic school?

Should we be content with the subsidy even when we are trained? What about the trained teachers who are placed in our schools and are not early childhood trained?

Mr Thwaites, I would really like to know what will happen for us as trained early childhood teachers already in a school. Is it that once there is one trained teacher in the basic school the other teachers should not pursue higher training since they will not be paid upon completing their diploma or degree? We are crying out, we need help. I am anxiously awaiting your response.

M Watson

St James