Principals hiding problems

The truth is that serious problems exist in our schools and many principals have been able to keep these away from the media and the public for years. As a result, the situation has deteriorated in spite of what some may think.

During my years as a teacher, I witnessed many cases of irregularities in our educational institutions, which the Ministry of Education failed to address promptly. Teachers in the past who spoke out against the wrongs at their schools were either victimised or sidelined for speaking the truth. Sadly, this continues to this day even though many of the cover-ups in schools are now being exposed.

Many teachers are unhappy with school administrators but they are afraid to speak out for fear of reprisal.

The Education Ministry has to accept some of the blame because at times it has failed to act quickly on complaints from teachers, students and parents.

We must recognise that we cannot solve problems if we try to make believe that indiscipline, violence and substance abuse and absenteeism in schools are decreasing in any meaningful way at this time.

Some principals may be under pressure from the public to ensure that their schools maintain a good image.

As a result, they deny that there are any problems at their institutions.

Among our very good principals, there are others who are poor school administrators and as a result they help contribute to the many problems at our nation’s schools.

Some of these incompetent administrators may even go on to become supervisors.