Dear Editor,

In many instances, teachers and schools are left to fill the emotional gaps created by the broken homes that some absent fathers help create. Schools have had to become not only places of learning, but also spaces for healing. Of great concern is the fact that an imbalance also exists in schools as only around 15 per cent of Jamaica’s teachers are men. We therefore need more male teachers, not just for balance, but also for restoration.

A good male teacher becomes more than an educator. He becomes a consistent voice, a model of respect, a mirror that shows a young man what responsibility looks like, and a guide who helps young women set their standards.

When boys and girls grow up seeing men who listen, who lead with love, who value education, and who carry themselves with integrity, decorum, pride, and dignity, their experience as males will cause them to model these qualities, while females will seek these higher standards and qualities in the men they find attractive.

Education saved me, because I was that child from humble rural Jamaica who could have fallen through the cracks. However, because of the love and care of teachers, I found my footing, found my purpose, and found the path that led me to being the president of The Mico University College, an institution that has shaped the lives of countless Jamaicans for over 190 years.

Dr Asburn Pinnock

President

The Mico University College

media@themico.edu.jm