What a difference a school makes!

THE EDITOR, Sir:

What a difference school makes! Sometimes practitioners at certain educational institutions wonder why it is that some parents and children shun their place of learning and this is one of them. I was passing a certain upgraded high school Monday morning when I saw some men busily preparing an entire large truckload of 'scrap metals' (broken school furniture), apparently for export.

My heart sank. Then, as I thought about it some more I said to myself "what a difference a school makes!" Then I also became more thankful that my parents insisted that I attended the school that I went to.

For, when I attended Dinthill Technical High School, those broken furniture would be the prime items for rehabilitation via projects by students; the senior students would perform welding to the broken metals, and the then the lower grades would prepare them for painting and then do the painting ourselves. Imagine how proud we felt on the completion of a batch of chairs and desks, appearing brand new again. Many of those students naturally, moved on to becoming different types of engineers and other professionals all over the world. And for those who might not have been a part of the project, they too learnt by proxy that those things that can be fixed, should be.

Even if it would cost a bit more to rehabilitate than to purchase new furniture, let me quickly encourage other schools that may be contemplating the scrap metal route to, in the name of providing a worthwhile practical experience for their students or students at other schools, allow the students to make themselves useful in this way, thereby keeping themselves out of trouble at the same time.

a'Lerroy Brown