Stop boxing the children!
Cornwall College principal lashes academic streaming
BY HORACE HINES Observer West reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, February 25, 2010
CAMBRIDGE, St James– Denham McIntyre, the principal of Cornwall College in Montego Bay, has condemned academic streaming in the island’s secondary education system, advocating the establishment of a relevant supportive curriculum for all students.
"There should be no exclusion. I don’t believe in bright and dunce children. All children can learn and should be taught equally," he argued at a ceremony to welcome Mavis Hamilton as the new provincial principal of the Cambridge High School on Monday.
 MCINTYRE… I don’t believe in bright and dunce children. All children can learn and should be taught equally
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Academic streaming involves the separation of children into classes for tuition according to their percieved abilities. Although schools here have come up with all sorts of creative names to glamorise the practice, this has not managed to camouflage the stigma associated with the lower academic streams.
"It is time for us to get rid of that and know that every parent who sends his or her child to Cambridge High School (for example), wants the best for that child regardless if they are poor or rich, and so we must do our best to ensure that children are given an opportunity to achieve and stop putting them in boxes," he said.
Hamilton, an educator of 27 years, graduated from Moneague Teachers’ College with a Teachers’ Diploma. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s degree in education from the Western Carolina University.
Prior to her assuming the new post at Cambridge High School last month, she was the vice-principal of the Muchette Comprehensive High School in Trelawny for 10 years.
She succeeds Rhudal McFarlane who served as principal of Cambridge High for 27 years.
At Monday’s function, Hamilton pledged to address "low passes in math and language, late-coming, truancy," and unveiled plans for succession leaders, staff development, the school’s involvement in co-curricular activities such as "All Together Sing", a singing contest for school choirs aired on television, as well as the popular "Schools’ Challenge Quiz".
"The involvement of all the stakeholders isnecessary for the vision to become reality," Hamilton noted.
Among those who welcomed Hamilton at Monday’s ceremony were:
*South St James MP, Derrick Kellier;
*Community member, Eric Foster,
*Past student, Esmond Clarke;
*Akelia Thompson, the school’s head girl;
*PTA president ,Francella Anderson;
*Clive Evans from region four of the ministry of education and
*Board chairman, Franklin Binns.
McFarlane, who according to the programme was designated to hand over the welcome key to Hamilton, did not attend the function.
McIntyre warned Hamilton to expect to be compared to her predecessor, who received a number of glowing tributes in his absence. But he was quick to reassure that "if a new principal plays his or her card right, most if not all persons will accept the new management."
