Dear Editor,

Is Ruel Reid comfortable in his new position as minister of education? Or was he more comfortable as principal of Jamaica College?

I do think that he was a very good principal, but managing a school is not the same as managing a ministry, especially that of education, with multi-modal functions. You see, managing a school is mostly administrative, but managing a ministry is policy-oriented. Not to mention that he is also saddled with the responsibility of information. Maybe too much for one man.

This man is a good teacher and administrator. In these positions he was highly respected, but since taking on the Ministry of Education he seems to have lost his focus. You want to tell me that he not did know that Mr Warmington was sworn in as a minister? Was this hidden from him? He is, or is supposed to be the information minister. It was embarrassing to see a junior minister whispering the answer in his ear.

Mr Reid seems to come to education with a muddled imagination. He imagined that the age limit of students should be increased to 18 years, without a clear-cut knowledge of where or how the funds would be raised to keep children in school longer. He reasoned that the Government can or will fund education to the tune of $19,000 per student without knowing the source of the funds.

He leaves this to chance. Just in case it does not work, he has no objection to Parent Teachers Associations assisting, because they usually assist. The auxiliary fees are always accepted, he reasoned, but he thinks the Government has responsibly for free education. This he is standing by, irrespective of the tight financial constraints.

To me, he seems like a square peg in a round hole. Education is an investment in our youth for future national development. We do not need guesswork, Minister. We need a logical, practical and at the same time visionary minister of education.

Whitley McLean

whitleymclean@yahoo.com