By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterTHE CALL by Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) president, Wentworth Gabbidon, for a renewed emphasis on boarding schools has drawn enthusiastic support from two leading public figures Public Defender, Howard Hamilton, and executive director of the Disputes Resolution Foundation, Donna Parchment.
Miss Parchment, herself a product of a boarding school, wants boarding to be reintroduced in a large number of schools, island-wide.
Mr. Hamilton, who attended Jamaica College when the school still had boarders, believes the boarding experience is needed now more than ever, citing a loss of acceptable values and attitudes as a major problem that may be addressed, in part, through boarding schools.
"Sending some of these youngsters to boarding schools would inculcate a sense of independence, particularly where there is no father figure in the home; I come across daily the results of the failure of the father to be there for the boys and provide an example," he lamented. Boarding schools, according to the Public Defender, create in students the capacity to survive and live in a new environment; engendering independence of mind and thought.
NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS
It's an experience, he asserts, that has created many of today's leaders in various areas of Jamaican society, and should be relied on once again to produce a new generation of leaders for a society challenged by many social and economic problems.
It's a view that is shared by Miss Parchment, chairman of the board of Hampton High, a boarding schools for girls, located in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, just a few miles away from Munro College, its equivalent institution for boys.
Reflecting on her days as a student at Hampton, Miss Parchment recalled that the boarding experience socialised her "into becoming more accepting of diversity and of being more open to fitting in and making things work everyone had the same goal to get a good education".
This was an environment in which rules and routine were important, where twice-daily prayer times were mandatory; where there was always a two-hour prep time dedicated to homework, and where lights-out at the end of the day was strictly enforced.
"Nothing was taken for granted, including the teaching of good table manners, and how to relate to adults. There was an established way of behaving, a sense of decorum and an awareness of self that was an important part of the experience," she recalls.
Miss Parchment attributes some of her skills in conflict resolution today to her formative years at home with eight other children and, critically, as a boarder at Hampton, "where living in a small community in your dorm and your house you had to find a way to deal with disagreements. As a monitor and form captain, you learnt how to bring out the best in others; how to talk about problems; to go for help if there's a problem that you can't handle yourself; to respect yourself and respect others."
Now, as board chairman at Hampton for over a decade, she has the responsibility of maintaining a rich tradition of academic excellence and producing well-adjusted citizens.
The school today has a population of about 900 girls, of whom just under 300 are boarders. The addition of several new buildings, courtesy of the Ministry of Education and the Urban Development Corporation now allows the school to better organise life for the boarders as well as the day students.
GOOD SUPERVISION
"We have staff on the ground floor so there is good supervision. We have managed to bring all the boarding in one area properly fenced and secured, and we have a director of boarding who focuses on that aspect of school life," Miss Parchment explained.
As for the long-held view in some quarters that boarding school are elitist institutions, the Hampton board chairman quickly dismissed that, pointing out that fees are kept "fairly low" to facilitate those who are not well off, but who may require the nurturing environment of a boarding school. Among those who need the facility most, she said there were students "who are not able to finish their education well at home because their parents may have separated and there is a problem at home, or where there is financial problem at home we would like to bring them in for boarding where they can fulfil their potential."
SUCCESS
With over 90 per cent of the Hampton girls passing English language and the mathematics passes moving up to 54 per cent in this year's examinations, Miss Parchment believes the boarding environment has been a major factor in the success being achieved.
"At the policy level I believe that there is a renewed appreciation for boarding school, and the more of your school population that gets this additional support, the more improvement we will see. There is a real need and scope to increase boarding into the Corporate Area, in the towns, in rural areas," she asserted.
Public Defender Howard Hamilton is in full agreement.
"Boarding schools are unquestionably needed now, even more than when they were more prevalent, because the levels of discipline and values and attitudes were much higher than they are today. This is one approach that should be tried to reverse the trend," he suggested.
