Fri, Aug 3. 2012

Editor: Over the last couple of weeks there has been an onslaught on the CEO. I write in defence of the Chief Education Officer; as I feel that persons are putting all the blame on her re: the mess the Ministry of Education is presently in. It is a total mess I agree. Yes, I agree that she needs help in certain areas, but we cannot blame her for not being able to do certain things.{{more}} The blame lies with those who put her in position without the experience and training needed for such a position. How do we expect her to function at that level without the experience of being a school head? Does she have training in administration? If she was the person to fill the position, she should have been working along with the former CEO to get an idea of what the job entails. This is not an easy task and support is needed to be able to manage.

The MOE is not run by the CEO alone, there are others there whose function is to support her, but instead of supporting, they make her life a living hell. Instead of supporting, one senior officer pulls her down every chance that person gets. I know this for a fact as I have heard the person myself and principals and other teachers talk about the remarks that are made when they call the MOE asking for the Chief; that person never knows where she is and does not know what is happening in the MOE. Think of how that will come over to persons on the outside.

This person has no class, the person’s attitude towards people and the job is appalling. The officer does not know when to say what and so ends up making a fool of themself. The person does not know how to do the job and never has a solution to any problem; we must always wait on someone else. This person was an NDP but all of a sudden is ULP and politics plays a big part in the execution of the officer’s duties. This is unacceptable and I am sure the Prime Minister will not agree with some of the things that are done by some of these public officers. Nepotism is also rampant as persons close to the person got promoted twice in quick succession while some persons are still waiting.

Other officers at the MOE will be heard discussing the MOE as if they are not a part of it and some of these persons claim to be supporters of the ULP. They openly say things about the MOE at functions and I am very surprised as they seem not to be singing from the same song sheet. They discuss the CEO among themselves. This behavior shows disunity and yet the blame is on the CEO for what is happening at the MOE. Yes she is the Chief but she is not the only person who is responsible for what happens at the MOE. There seems to be a lot of power struggle and favoritism when it comes to being promoted or appointed and this creates other problems as persons are disgruntled. This is the truth and the CEO must feel very lonely at the top.

The Prime Minister went to the Ministry of Agriculture and found out first-hand what is happening there; I strongly suggest that he makes a visit to the Ministry of Education to sort out what is happening there. I know that he is a fair man and he will not let politics cloud his vision. I hope for the good of our nation’s children that something is done about our education system, remember if the head is in disarray then the rest of the system will be the same. At this point, there is no respect for authority and our children are looking at our leaders and our teachers, no wonder they behave the way they do. They learn from us.

Let us get together and help each other to make the system better. I also suggest that when we are filling positions that we really look for persons who can do the job and not someone who just wants a promotion for financial reasons or because of politics.

Jolene Jones