NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024 25 NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024 24 PROFESSOR EMERITUS Errol Miller took educators on a history trail of Jamaica’s education system, and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s interface with it, and recommended professional and ethical paths for the nation’s teachers. The former JTA President, former Principal and Chancellor of The Mico University College, author or editor of more than 20 books, Professor Emeritus Errol Miller was delivering the Sixtieth Anniversary lecture of the JTA at Ocean Coral Spring Hotel, Trelawny. The lecture came on the second day of the JTA’s Annual Education Conference attended by nearly 200 teachers from across the country. Professor Miller used his breadth of experience and knowledge in education and in critical institutions, including in the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) and as a former Parliamentarian, to deal with a raft of critical social issues impinging on Jamaica’s development. Making a slight adjustment to the theme of the Sixtieth Anniversary, the former Permanent Secretary addressed ‘Preserving Legacies Remaining Engaged in the Future’. He reminded the audience that he was a founding member of the JTA “by default”, having been a teacher at Excelsior High at the time of the founding of the JTA. He was also the presenter at the 50th anniversary lecture. Prof Miller discussed the early history of education in Jamaica from the colonial period through to the present. He said the Colonial state was always delinquent when it came to education and actually started owning schools only in the last decade of the 19th century. Professor Miller said the “halcyon days” for education were from 1957 to 1978. The period began with free places being awarded in the Common Entrance Examination. He said this period marked the commencement of the transformation of Jamaica’s education. He also referred to 1953 which saw the establishment of Ministries in Jamaica including the Ministry of Education. This fact, Professor Miller said, should be celebrated in Jamaica. Professor Miller also looked at fiscal policies, private businesses, and how finances affected the people of Jamaica and the education system in the post-Independence period. Dealing with the management of the financial affairs of the country and their impact on education and society, he spoke about the period from 1984 to 2000. He said in 1984 the debtto-GDP ratio was 214 percent, the highest ever He said from there, successive “Government policies placed priority on paying down debt” and giving tax exemption and incentives to private sector-led growth rather than continued investment in education. He said by 1996 the debt to GDP ratio was 70.5 percent. Professor Miller traced the movement of the Jamaican dollar over the comparable period pointing out that in 1990, the exchange rate was J$6.50 to US$1 but by 2000 it was J$100.08 to US$1. Professor Miller said over the period “Instead of creating wealth the financial companies were creating debt.” He lamented the use of special tax funds that were used to help bail out companies and pay down debt. He said, “Private investors should take risks, should pay taxes and should be regulated for ethical conduct.” The Education Tax, the NHT the NIS should be used exclusively for the purposes for which they were intended, he said. Looking at the teacher union, he said the JTA had “five parents” who brought it into being in 1964. He went back to the foundations in the JUT, established in 1894, out of 22 parish- and district associations. He said its development, structure, and principles meant the JTA was endowed with a very powerful structure. That architecture included a secretariat, parish associations, district associations, and contact teachers in every school. He also spoke to the contribution of Champs now regarded as the best schoolboy and schoolgirl athletics championship in the world. Professor Miller noted that in 1910 six headmasters decided to hold joint sports, setting the foundation for Boys Champs, and in 1957 Girls Champs was started by the Games Mistresses Association, physical education teachers, Today Champs is run by 161 secondary school principals through mainly voluntary effort and with high school athletes performing at very high levels, “Champs is a byproduct of secondary education. It’s a sports spin off,” Professor Miller said. He said such a brilliant byproduct could not come from an inferior product. He also discussed professional and ethical issues to which the JTA has been committed over the years. The former JTA President said he respected and applauded young people who opt for teaching careers. He teaching as an occupation that began over 4500 years ago. He said when he entered teaching, things were very different from today. He said young teachers must honour the profession and the societal roles and functions it performs for as long as they stay in it. He provided general reminders about the characteristics of teaching and teachers. 1. Teaching and learning achieve their best outcomes where shared vision, agreed values, and the virtues that support them are collectively affirmed 2. The teacher’s character matters as much as academic and professional qualifications. Teachers must be good humans and are rightfully held to a higher standard. 3. Students are more important than subjects, grades in examinations, performance in sports, and the like. 4. Teachers impact students through their personalities, talents, gifts and idiosyncrasies and above all care for student well-being and future. Professor Miller who served the Electoral Advisory Committee and the Electoral Commission of Jamaica for 12 years also took on the recent decision of Parliament to subsume the Office of the Political Ombudsman into the ECJ. “This is by far the worst legislation affecting electoral laws passed by the Jamaican Parliament since becoming a nation in 1962. It has no equal,” the former ECJ Chairman and former Independent Senator said. He went on to give details of the history of the major Convention observed by the two major political parties that has been the cornerstone of the transformation of the electoral system since 1979. That is, the party with the majority would not use its majority to pass electoral laws and change constituency boundaries that are opposed by the minority in Parliament. Electoral laws and constituency boundaries would be enacted in law based on unanimous reports of the ECJ, which is widely regarded as independent and has helped to bolster Jamaica’s democracy. (That part of his presentation has been widely reported in the national press). JTA Deputy Secretary General, Clayton Hall chaired the session at which the lecture was delivered. Regional Director of the Ministry of Education and Youth Karlene Segre brought greetings on behalf of the Ministry. JTA President Leighton Johnson made a statement about the 60th anniversary and Secretary General Mark Nicely introduced Professor Miller. President-Elect Mark Smith gave the vote of thanks. 60TH ANNIVERSARY LECTURE HIGHLIGHTS HISTORY OF EDUCATION Professor Emeritus Errol Miller and his wife Dr. Sharon Miller are seated among the dozens of people assembled for the 60th Anniversary Lecture, one of the highlights of the year-long celebrations. Prof Miller went on to deliver a thought-provoking lecture at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel, Trelawny on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Professor Emeritus Errol Miller ‘JTA HAS POWERFUL STRUCTURE’ – Prof Miller Ahead of the 60th Anniversary Lecture delivered by Past President Professor Emeritus Errol Miller, participants and guests at the annual Education Conference of the JTA gathered in the courtyard, at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel Trelawny on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, for the cutting of the 60th Anniversary Cake. President Leighton Johnson (left) and President-Elect Mark Smith (right) cut the cake with the assistance of Nadine Molloy, Trustee. Also pictured are Dr Garth Anderson, Trustee, and Clayton Hall, Deputy Secretary General. (In his JTA 60th Anniversary lecture) · ‘We can’t continue to treat the State of Jamaica as a bups’ · ‘I prefer to see ourselves [Jamaica] as a young nation rather than as a post-colonial nation … with mountains to climb.’ · ‘The Colonial state was always delinquent when it came to education.’ · ‘ Public school principals and teachers are better qualified academically and professionally than at any previous time in our history’. · ‘Dismiss any thought that equates your efforts and work as a teacher with monthly pay … Fully support the JTA in negotiating compensation that provides for decent living. Teaching is not driven by pay but [you should] not accept genteel poverty.’ · ‘Prepare to teach your students, go to classes on time, engage students fully in the content to be covered in the allotted time, and be involved in extra-curricular activities because it is there that you get to know students best.’ · ‘Give extra lessons for pay only to students not in your class … Your students’ failure to learn should not be an extra source of income.’ · ‘Teaching is not what is in it for me, individualism.’ · ‘Take joy in the talents, achievements, and successes of your students, fellow teachers, and school. Parents you meet, what students say and do, and how they change are anecdotes for life. · Be gracious and humble when students and past students return gratitude for words and acts that you cannot recall if your life depends on it. This confirms that you did your job as a teacher. · ‘Take pleasure in working with your students to inspire them to defy negative stereotypes and expectations that others have of them. When this succeeds it becomes a source of deep inner satisfaction.’ GEMS FROM PROF ERROL MILLER JTA 60TH ANNIVERSARY FEATURE JTA 60TH ANNIVERSARY FEATURE
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