The Editor, Sir:

Historically a strong-handed, often cruel form of discipline was the standard for Jamaica, yet as the numbers of schools and students grew, organised efforts to replace that strength were not sufficient, nor effective enough to succeed, in all-too-many schools today, states of near anarchy are the tragic result.

Today's educational critics ask the same, unanswered questions:

How can you educate in overcrowded classrooms with poor facilities? What is the benefit of conduct codes that can't be enforced? What is the worth of having technological advances, like computers and mass communications devices, when the public infrastructure simply can't support them? And finally, what good are better-educated teachers if they are wasted in classrooms with too many students who have no real interest in education?

Unfortunately, too many Jamaican parents, teachers and school administrators have reacted to this tragedy by becoming the 'sleeping policemen' of their children's futures. Despite their best efforts, they are today little more than speed bumps on the road to the nation's future tragedies.

I am, etc.,

ED MCCOY

mmhobo48@juno.com

Bokeelia, FL