'What can go so?' - PNP's Damion Crawford flays Fayval Williams over state of education 

As if preaching from a pulpit, PNP member Damion Crawford on Sunday whipped the party's conference crowd into a frenzy as he ripped into Fayval Williams for her stewardship as education minister.

Using biblical references to stone and bread, Crawford, who is a senator and education spokesman, claimed that Williams and the Andrew Holness-led administration are not serious about addressing weaknesses in the education system. 

"Too many of our children are receiving stone and serpent from the Jamaica Labour Party," he asserted. 

He added: "Thirteen thousand primary school students did not achieve proficiency in math, they ask for bread, they were given stones ...and when it comes to CXC it gets worse.

"And then I hear the minister of education is seeking promotion, what can go so? he asked as the crowd joined in to finish the rhetorical question.

Williams' name is among several making the rounds in relation to who will replace Dr Nigel Clarke who is to step down as finance minister to take up a senior post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Her opinion piece published in today's Sunday Gleaner lashing former finance minister Dr Omar Davies for a recent article on Jamaica's relationship with the IMF only added to the speculation.  

Crawford said with the PNP at the helm, in five years, Jamaica would "defeat" countries with better educational outcomes, like Trinidad and Tobago.

"I know Kartel is here, but when it comes to education, I am the teacher," he said, acknowledging the surprise appearance of the dancehall star who was recently freed of a murder charge. 

Crawford also lamented absenteeism in schools. According to him, the absenteeism rate in rural areas is 30 per cent and 18 per cent in urban areas. 

The Government is pursuing the implementation of a series of reforms based on a report from the Education Transport Commission. 

Meanwhile, spokesman on finance Julian Robinson remained on his mantra that Jamaica needs to turn away from low-wage jobs to lift the earnings of Jamaicans.

His focus on growth is seen as an attempt to carve out a credible party position that welcomes macroeconomic stability, and also stress that there is a lack of meaningful growth under the Holness administration 

He said a future PNP government would focus on growth, "a deliberate, inclusive and sustainable expansion that reaches every corner of Jamaica". 

According to him, Jamaica needs growth "that does not just inflate numbers but improves lives". 

Robinson's brief presentation flagged concerns about high energy costs, literacy and what he said is the lack of a coordinated export strategy. 

And Maroon chief Richard Currie, yet another polarising national figure, took to the PNP conference stage on Sunday, 

"He has vim, vigour and vitality. This man is a true man, this man is as real as it gets," he said, clothing PNP President Mark Golding in the words of Edward Seaga, a late former prime minister and head of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party. 

The relationship between Currie, who leads the Accomping Maroons, and the Holness administration has been strained as he asserts rights to govern historic maroon territory in Jamaica. 

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has warned that there is one national government.

- Jovan Johnson

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