She stood like a phoenix

I think San Fernando Central Secondary School is like a phoenix when you consider the changes from 2011 to 2012, led by a principal who stood her ground against detractors.
Now, many other schools do improve with effective leadership, dedicated teachers and a healthy school environment. Further, many schools, including those now called “prestige” schools, started from scratch, with many poor, working class students who turned out to be both bright and of good character. Such schools helped knock down the proposition that “poverty is a cause of crime.” Not always.

So what impressed me with San Fernando Central? It was the professional boldness, passion and plain-speaking approach adopted by Principal, Ms Farial Ali. In 2011, when graduation time came, she stood before students and their parents and told them that the school needed to be “fixed,” that students were badly behaved and “were as bad as the Junior Secondary School” where she had taught before. After that, parents complained. Letters were written to newspaper editors, criticising Principal Ali. Students disliked her. But the principal stood her ground, refusing to be “nice and popular” in the face of “a broken system” that needed fixing.

The situation needed leadership and rule enforcement. But naturally, given the climate of opinion in this country, anyone stressing these necessities in an organisation will likely lose popularity. But the principal stood her ground. After pointing out the school’s faults, she was told she “shouldn’t say so in public.” Even the Ministry got worried about “blaming a Government school in public.” But the woman knew what her mission required and seemed prepared to pay the price to get it achieved.

Well, what were the results of Ms Ali’s intervention. Hear this. From last year’s national scholarship winners, San Fernando Central Secondary, Ms Ali’s school, got an unprecedented five — Apphia Knutt in Modern Studies, Kavan Ramanath in Mathematics, Shanz Narine in Environmental Science, Navada Ramdass Singh and Rachel Sookdeo in Science. School discipline improved significantly. So fellow citizens, this is one way to get the job done. An example that’s worth 1,000 sermons, a lesson for all who set out to change broken systems. Don’t worry with the detractors, the snipers who have gotten too accustomed to a culture of disorder and non-accountability. Stand your ground, even if alone.

Calling for discipline and accountability makes them uncomfortable. They seek to ridicule you while on-lookers offer no support. Look around and see. Ignoring them, Ms Farial Ali stood her ground and accomplished her mission. And even those who felt uneasy with her in 2011 benefitted immensely in 2012. According to School Supervisor, Clare Telemaque, “parents are now rushing to enrol their children at San Fernando Central.”

Said Ms Ali after last year’s graduation ceremony: “There have been lots of improvements at the school. There is a change in the school culture.” Even the Newsday editorial felt obliged to say “First class, San Fernando Central.” (Oct 13, 2012) The editorial continued: “Only last year (2011) the Principal likened San Fernando Central Secondary School to a Junior Secondary School to which she had once been assigned and in which knives, scissors and other weapons had been seized. Today, (2012), San Fernando Central’s achievements place it at the level of top-ranked schools in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Celebrating Ms Ali’s courage and dedication in this column is not an undeserved exaggeration but rather an attempt to help inspire others who may find themselves facing broken systems which have serious implications for other people’s future or public safety. Rather than finding a comfortable place in a broken, disorderly culture, even benefiting from it, professionals like Farial Ali courageously choose the path of change and reconstruction. A message which this column has been striving to promote for over two years now. Like the Newsday editorial, we salute Ms Ali.

If Ms Farial Ali could do it, many others could. Be like the Phoenix. But you have to be brave, ignore the detractors, snipers, and move on. Stand your ground. The late Sir Ellis Clarke often described it as “crabs in a barrel.” But I think it is like a society reluctant to take the medicine required for its illness. Once again, how does a culture change itself?