DIRECTOR of the National College of Educational Leadership (NCEL), Dr Doeford Shirley says he has no intention of quitting his position despite being sidelined and frustrated by the Ministry of Education in fulfilling his mandate to train primary and secondary school principals.

Shirley, who in recent times has been using the media to highlight issues at the education ministry, has ignored a recent gag order placed on him by his employers. He is adamant that he will continue to lobby for improvements to the education system.

“I received a hand-delivered memo from the permanent secretary yesterday (Friday) demanding that I cease my contacts with the media — a directive I will not comply with, as I am doing so with every right of my positional rank and office. And unless the ministry is forced, through the media, to step up to the plate of civil responsibility, poverty, ignorance and discrimination will continue to be the emblem of Jamaica during this next 50 years of Independence, and I did not relinquish my career in the US to come to Jamaica to support that degeneracy, but rather to institute change,” said Shirley in a letter to the media yesterday.

“I have two years left to run on my contract. I was comfortable in my job in the United States and I gave that up, because with this job I would be able to impact education over the entire country, so I jumped at the opportunity,” Dr Shirley told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.

“Put it this way, I do not intend to resign, and if they want to terminate my services they will have to pay me for the entire contract, because I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” the embattled educator stated. Dr Shirley was responding to questions about his future after minister of education Reverend Ronald Thwaites revealed in a press conference last Wednesday that the training of principals had commenced without Dr Shirley’s input.

Rev Thwaites said the first effective training course for more than 90 principals had taken place, and that more training was scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

The move has effectively sidelined Dr Shirley, who told the media that the ministry refused to co-operate with him in getting the programme underway. He claimed that he was not given the requisite staffing and space to establish the college.

On Wednesday, Thwaites admitted that policy differences had developed between himself and Dr Shirley on how the college should operate.

The education minister said while NCEL was developed as a stand-alone institution, following reflection and discussions with other stakeholders, “it was felt that it would be better if the college were integrated with other elements of the education system where the skills were already there”.

He said as such, the decision was made to go for a mix of persons with several skills, including management studies, educational leadership, a deeper understanding of pedagogical trends.

“We have gone ahead in the direction we feel is most prudent, most effective and most economical,” the minister said.

However, Dr Shirley dismissed Thwaites’ claim, saying that he was willing to partner with other stakeholders, especially in the country’s universities, in implementing the programme.

“He (Thwaites) mentioned that my approach was more costly, which was ludicrous. There is nothing that I have done which was not directed in a most cost-effective fashion,” Dr Shirley told the Sunday Observer.

He claimed that a three-day training seminar conducted by the ministry for 100 principals at Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Resort “must have cost over $3 million”, which was more expensive than any programme which he had proposed.

In the meantime, Dr Shirley continues to report to work, not to idle, he says, noting that he is “working on a practicum component” as a follow-up to the training programme for the principals.

He said he earns a salary of “under $5 million” and was interviewed for the job by a panel headed by then-Permanent Secretary Audrey Sewell.

The educator of 17 years, who was recruited from the Fulton County school system in Atlanta, Georgia, describes his relationship with senior staff of the ministry as “very amenable”.

However, he said he had written to the minister on a number of occasions but Thwaites has never replied to him.

Commenting on Dr Shirley’s work to date, Thwaites said “the Ministry of Education thanks Dr Doeford Shirley for his early efforts in this regard”.

He said further that “on no occasion has Dr Shirley ever approached me regarding difficulties he was having or differences of policy which he presumed”.

Asked to comment about Dr Shirley’s future at the ministry, Thwaites said: “No doubt he and the ministry will determine that in short order.”