Dear Editor,

On June 30, 2021 I penned a letter to another newspaper detailing the issue of a solar PV system that was to be delivered to the Maggotty High School as reward for an energy reduction competition put on by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) in which we were adjudged to have placed first among the participants. This said competition took place in March 2019.

Despite my plea, and despite sending a follow-up to the newspaper who published my original letter, it is with sadness that I report that, to date, save for a visit by the relevant people to our campus to ascertain where the system would be installed, there has been no further word received as to when we will actually see the fruits of our labour.

Is it small wonder that so many of our beloved, talented, hard-working and brightest minds find it best to leave our shores to seek life elsewhere? Is it the studied aim of those in power to seek ways to deprive the honest and law-abiding citizens among us?

Why do the wheels of governance move so slowly?

I am well aware of the fact that Prime Minister Andrew Holness is a proponent of a solid education for all children and also a champion for the use of integrity and transparency at all levels of government and governance. I am hoping that by some means this letter would meet his gaze as he reads through the daily periodicals that pass through his hands, as I am sure that were he aware of our plight this situation would have been long resolved.

As an educator for the past 19 years I have witnessed the steady decline in moral fortitude in this country. The days of values, such as giving your word and keeping it, seem to be long past. I was raised on the principle that as a man without money or possessions your only recourse is to give your word and stand by it. Where have these values gone? And why aren’t the people entrusted with power exhibiting more of these values that they seek from the people they serve? Daily we hear the lament for a return to the days when we were our brother’s keeper, to the days of moral high handedness and thought for others.

I am deeply troubled by the manner in which I have witnessed this issue being dealt with and I stand as an educator to say to the people who are asking me to go into my classroom and mould the minds of the future: Before you ask me, demand of me to do, first model said behaviour yourself.

I hold no title as honourable or most honourable. I do not have what can be classified as riches of a monetary value. I neither have the accolades nor platitudes offered by an adoring public. I am just a humble teacher, with my one claim to any kind of fame being that when I speak to my students and demand they do anything, I mirror said behaviour first.

I quietly await to see if we will ever be bestowed with our solar PV system. And I leave this thought with those who will see my few words. The problems we face as a country did not stem from some mystic place in the ether. It stemmed from the breakdown of morals and fear of those who lead to follow the footsteps of the stalwarts who went before. Things will never change if this is how empty words and commitments continue to be. The youth are watching ladies and gentlemen. They are watching you. I believe the next move belongs to you.

Tycon Allwood

Educator

sirallwood1@gmail.com