Jamaica’s Education Minister Fayval Williams has taken issue with a headline in one the country’s two national newspapers, which she has rejected as connoting violence totally contrary to the direction in which the education sector must move.

The headline, published yesterday (May 3) in The Gleaner, reads ‘Williams cracks whip on teachers’ and the minister says its detracts from the important work be done in improving student achievement.

The article highlights the move by the ministry to bring the performance of educators in the classroom under greater scrutiny in an ongoing drive to improve outcomes and efficiency.

CALLED FOR END TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN HOMES, SCHOOLS

However, in decrying the headline, Williams noted that in her Sectoral Debate presentation, she called for an end to corporal punishment in schools and homes.

In a statement from the education ministry, it was pointed out that, in speaking on teacher effectiveness, Williams had said it was one of the indicators the National Education Inspectorate uses when assessing schools and that 202 of the country’s primary schools are ranked unsatisfactory and two are ranked in need of immediate support in teacher effectiveness.

“I highlighted a number of ways in which we can together improve teacher effectiveness such as increasing the number of specialist teachers;  placing a high priority on continuous in-service professional growth and personal development of our teachers; and the necessity to move ahead with a revised teacher appraisal model that uses evidence of performance and is aligned to the National Standards Curriculum,” Williams said.

On the matter of accountability, the minister said the education sector must not confuse it with blame.

“Accountability is not the same thing as blame or punishment. Blame is focused on the past and on punishing the offender. To be accountable means to take responsibility for results, good or bad,” she argued.

“It means finding solutions to problems and applying lessons learned in order to improve future results. Being accountable is constructive because it focuses on the future.”

The minister said the newspaper’s reporting that she has “accused administrators and teachers of short-changing students and offering the country a low return on its investment” would only stoke animosity, hate and resentment in the education sector.

Williams said her desire was to work with administrators and teachers to find solutions to accelerate high student achievement and that she at no time laid blame or accusations in her Sectoral Debate presentation.
 
She also reiterated that, in the pursuit of education, there were many factors that determine student achievement “starting with parents or the home, the school, the principal, peers, the teacher, the central Ministry of Education, the student and I am sure there are a host of other factors”.
 
The minister said it would be unfortunate if the efforts to find collaborative solutions to the challenges in education were undercut by “inaccurate reporting and misrepresentation”.

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