Former Education Minister Reverend Ronald Thwaites - Gleaner file photo
Linvern Wright, President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools
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Former Education Minister and Principal of St. Michael's Theological College Reverend Ronald Thwaites, and President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, Linvern Wright
Former Education Minister Reverend Ronald Thwaites has described as 'repugnant' the practice of Members of Parliament unilaterally appointing people to chair school boards endorsed by the Ministry of Education.
He explains that the Education Act provides for the recommendation of an MP in respect of chairman of government school boards except for church-owned and trust schools.
While serving as Education Minister, Reverend Thwaites said he instituted an arrangement, albeit informally, where school board chairmen were appointed after consensus between the principal and member of Parliament.
"If you are responsible for the schools in your constituency, you must have a say, but not the final say, not the only say. I thought that the member of Parliament, the education officer and the principal could get together and determine who was the best person to serve the office of chair of the board," he explained.
Mr. Thwaites was responding to an altercation Monday involving the principal of St. James High, Joseph Williams, and the chairman of the school's board, Christopher McCurdy.
Classes at the institution were suspended on Tuesday following the heated clash between the men.
In the meantime, President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, Linvern Wright, wants a more rigorous selection process to ensure people with the requisite skills and temperament are appointed to serve on school boards.
While not speaking specifically to the incident at St. James High, Mr. Wright said very often people appointed politically "come to the board of management with more understanding of their loyalty to the political party or maybe to a cause that's outside of education".
"The knowledge of the code of regulation is a problem. So if you watch what is happening in many, many, many schools, in so many instances, the guidance that ought to be offered in particular instances where egregious breaches have happened, the board doesn't seem to have the capacity to guide the process," he complained.
He said the church-owned schools tend to do a better job at selecting board members.
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