Peace is overdue

The Editor, Sir:

In a conversation with a bright 21-year-old woman who lives in downtown Kingston, I learnt that she had left high school without passing even one CXC or any other type of subject. She explained that it was "through the war", which had stymied thehealthy growth, development and prospects of thousands of young Jamaicans.

At this very moment, as we celebrate Child Month, students from west Kingston and its environs have to be making their way to other schools to sit their exams. What a disgrace and what a national tragedy that has developed through this extradition affair! Many students have suffered emotional and other damage because of the constant fear and concern about safety and security. It makes it much more difficult to learn.

Is it any wonder thatonly 45 per cent of our primary school students have mastered numeracy and an equivalent amount have mastered literacy? Is it surprising that our students are arming themselves for protection and stabbing each other and their teachers on an increasing basis?

dangerous job

We also note that one finding of a research project in the USA is that teaching in an inner-city school is one of the most dangerous jobs. I think that these teachers should be commended for their efforts and given additional training, beyond the pedagogic, to do the job well. I also think that we need a newly minted teacher, who is also a soldier, to perform under this new dispensation.

A school should be a safe place, an oasis in a desert of violence. It should allow a student to have a sense of safety and well-being in which he or she can concentrate on the development of potential to became a productive person, capable of contributing to the development and prosperity in his or her society. Recent research in Jamaica has shown that the school is second only to the family in the building of social capital and trust in a society where, according to the study, there is "an epidemic of distrust." The truth is that we have to end the war so that the society can grow. The peace is overdue.

I am, etc.,

HILARY ROBERTSON-HICKLING (Dr)

UWI, Mona