Bartlett urges youth to use education to conquer crime, antisocial behaviours
Published:Saturday | July 8, 2023 | 12:16 AMMark Titus/Senior Gleaner Writer
THE ST James East Central Scholarship and Welfare Fund has had a life-changing impact on hundreds of students, over the years, many of whom are now enjoying budding careers and contributing positively to society.
But while celebrating his East Central St James Education Fund’s 26 years of dedicated service to the constituency, Member of Parliament (MP) Edmund Bartlett is disappointed that increased knowledge would have influenced more tolerance among residents.
“I want to say that we are deepening our involvement in the educational development of our students in the constituency,” said Bartlett, who is also the minister of tourism.
“We are able to boast a whole host of graduates from primary, and high schools, and at the tertiary level and our teachers’ colleges, but we are in a space that is disturbing to us, because with all of this effort, in our parish of St James, we are having serious antisocial issues; that crime and murder, in particular, are serious issues in our parish,” Bartlett continued.
“And when we look to education, we look to education to provide the basis on which knowledge and information are gleaned to be converted into practical applications to our daily lives and to enable us to have better relationships with one another, to enable us to discuss, agree, and disagree and not be violent about it.
“So, our government and our minister are saying that we have to turn it around and create now, the basis for a new and more precise way that we can get our children from early because they say the brain is wired to learn and the highest period of absorption of a child is during the age of zero to five,” Bartlett reasoned.
Stimulation centre
With that in mind, the MP expects a stimulation centre to act as a base where methods to counter antisocial behaviours, plus other subjects, will be taught.
The stimulation centre was first announced last year and is to be completed by December 2024. According to him, the designs are near completion and there is overwhelming support from corporate Jamaica for what would be the first of its kind in the region.
Bartlett, who was addressing those in attendance at the East Central St James Scholarship and Welfare Fund’s 26th annual education awards function held at the Half Moon Conference Room on Thursday – under the theme ‘Celebrating Academic Diversity Within our Schools’ – said that the facility will be able to accommodate approximately 100 children, along with their parents, who will be taught to convert ideas and will have a special focus on the sciences and the arts.
During the ceremony, a total of 120 PEP awardees from the primary schools in the constituency were honoured for their academic achievements. Nineteen students achieved averages of 90 or higher, while the remainder were between 80-89 per cent. The scholarship is applicable for the seven years of secondary study, so each recipient will get $140,000 for the duration.
Keynote speaker at the awards ceremony, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, lauded the consistency shown by the constituency’s education fund team, before turning her attention to the students, whom she encouraged to continue to pursue greatness.
She challenged the awardees to keep on hoping as hope can bridge the gap between absurdity and success.
“Now our education system is going through a lot of transformation to ensure that no child is left behind,” Senator Morris Dixon said. “Some of you may be strong in math, others in English, some in the sciences, even at woodwork and maybe athletics, but whatever your passion, strength, or weakness, the education system must respect you and give you the tools to succeed.”