Tashieka Mair, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

"Without teachers the future of our country is at risk because they impart the knowledge that guides the behaviour and creative output of our people."

This according to Edmund Bartlett, Member of Parliament for East Central St. James.

Mr. Bartlett was speaking at a ceremony he hosted at the Doctors Cave Beach Club last Wednesday, during which four teachers and 11 students received a total of $800,000 in scholarships to assist in their pursuit of higher education.

GSAT programme

The recipients were all part of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) programme.

The four teachers include Kerry Crew, of Irwin Primary; Anthony Murray and Livingston Duhaney, of Success Primary; and Jezrese Wright, of Springmount All Age, who is reading for a degree in early childhood education.

The scholarships to the teachers are tenable at both local and overseas universities, as well as at the teachers' colleges for early childhood education.

Mr. Bartlett stressed that he included the early childhood teachers because he believes that a solid foundation can bridge the gap between high and under performers.

"I think that, if we are to bridge the gap between the high performers and under performers in the education system, we have to deal with the issue of the early childhood education component," he stated.

Commitment

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MP pledged his commitment to assist more teachers in getting the requisite training, as the present figure of 30 per cent trained teachers in the early childhood education system needs to be significantly improved.

"We have to move towards increasing that number of trained teachers that we have in the early childhood stream," he said. "We are committed to do all we can from the EC side to facilitate this development."

Eleven students from schools within he constituency collected checks on behalf of their peers, who all received averages over 80 per cent in the recent GSAT exams. The scholarships, totalling $500,000, are renewable based on the performances of the recipients.