New Year’s wishes

Prioritise our children for 2023 and beyond

Jamaica is still the gem of the Caribbean, and we have so much to be grateful for and so much to be proud of.

Going into 2023, however, we must embrace the areas in which we must improve. A new year always presents an opportunity for reflection and planning for what is to come and as children’s advocate, I urge all Jamaicans to do this.

There are many things that I could wish for in 2023, but foremost among them is the desire to see children in Jamaica being truly prioritised and treated well. To make this desire a reality, I wish that children themselves will understand their value and self-worth; once self-esteem is in place, it creates a strong foundation upon which to build.

I also wish that parents, guardians, relatives and others in the home and community with children will build them up on a continuous basis, fiercely protect them and ensure that the things to which they are exposed are age-appropriate and enriching.

It is my wish that those professionals who must interact with children, or with matters that affect children in any way, will be mindful of the potential impact that their actions will have on the lives of these children. Please do not process those matters as just another file or just another case. My wish is for every such professional to be sensitive to the fact that they have the power to derail or rescue a child’s dreams in life; to empower or to discourage a child’s emotional state; to be the best example for a child and to be a true mentor, or to be a symbol of oppression and distress.

It is my hope that such an awakening of the consciousness of all stakeholders will result in our children not only being wished a happy new year, but being afforded a new year that is actually filled with hope, possibility and promise for them.

DIAHANN GORDON HARRISON

Children’s Advocate

Give youth a greater voice, fix issues in education sector

As we seek to reignite a nation, it is my hope that we will return to the right foundation – our Judeo-Christian principles as spoken by the Eternal Father to guide our lives individually and collectively as reflected in our national emblems, the pledge and anthem. As we recognise that foundation, that the fear of God will return to our island nation, resulting in a significant reduction of crime and violence.

My prayer list for Jamaica in 2023 is that we will:

• Implement national programmes to seriously support and strengthen our struggling parents. Strong families equal a strong nation/society.

• Evaluate our current expenditure on education and determine the true cost of educating each Jamaican child to produce the citizen envisioned in the 2030 sectoral plan for education. Having determined the same, develop a plan of action regarding funding, that is legally binding to whichever party is in power by the people of this nation – the true Government.

• Create a road map/educational framework guided by a philosophy of education for all Jamaican children, led by Jamaican educators, that will focus on implementing early- childhood education standards; improving the infrastructure of our schools; providing basic resources, or tools, needed by teachers to execute our duties; and, of course, paying teachers better. The recommendations of the 2004 Task Force and Patterson reports are useful in creating same.

• Create a think tank or incubator through which our young people are given the opportunity to craft innovative solutions to some of our perennial challenges in the areas of infrastructure, technology, medicine and agriculture. They reserve the right to have a say in finding such solutions.

• Launch a national campaign dubbed ‘Operation Rescue Our Boys/Men’, using a multiple stakeholder-partnership approach.

• Make food security a priority. Only a nation that can feed itself will be truly free.

LA SONJA HARRISON

Jamaica Teachers’ Association President