JTA’s Speid takes aim at Samuda and McLean

Western Bureau:

Outspoken Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Owen Speid has accused minister with responsibility for education Karl Samuda and Acting Permanent Secretary Dr Grace McLean of misleading the public when they dismissed claims by him that many schools were still without desks and chairs.

“I was shocked and disturbed when I heard them both on television disputing that when I said many schools had still not received the desks and chairs they requested, I was talking rubbish,” said a seemingly annoyed Speid in an interview with The Gleaner.

Speid said that he had visited more than 50 schools spanning the primary, secondary and early childhood levels since the start of the new school year. He challenged Samuda and McLean to divulge how many schools they had visited over the same period.

According to Speid, during his visits to the various schools, he saw many situations where schools were still waiting for the supplies they had requested.

“Included in that list are Revival All-age (Hanover), which requested six teachers’ tables and 30 benches; Little London High (Westmoreland), which requested 20 tables and chairs; St Paul’s Primary (Westmoreland), which requested desks and chairs for grades one and two; Moreland Hill Primary and Infant, which requested three teachers’ desks and chairs and 30 metal chairs; and Green Island High (Hanover), which requested 200 desks and chairs and got 50.”

Speid said that he would like both Samuda and McLean to dispute the information that he had provided to The Gleaner.

“Let those ministry officials who came on television to dispute that when I say they have not delivered desks and chairs to the schools I named provide proof of their deliveries, to include the numbers and dates,” Speid insisted.