REGION OF CHAMPIONS

WESTERN BUREAU:

Rhoda Crawford, minister of state in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, has credited the resilience and leadership of Region Five’s principals for transforming one of Jamaica’s worst education crises into a story of academic triumph, arguing that the region’s recovery from Hurricane Melissa demonstrates how committed school leaders can overcome even the most devastating setbacks.

“When Hurricane Melissa tore through our region, we saw the true measure of your leadership,” Crawford told educators at the Region Five Principals’ Recognition and Awards ceremony at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny on Wednesday night.

“While many were looking for safety, you were looking for your students. You were checking on your staff. You were assessing the damage to your schools, not just as buildings, but as sanctuaries of hope for our children,” she said.

Reflecting on the Category 5 hurricane that devastated St Elizabeth and neighbouring parishes last October, Crawford recalled that schools were damaged, roads became impassable, communities were cut off by floodwaters, electricity and water supplies were disrupted, and thousands of students were forced out of classrooms for weeks as educators worked to restore teaching and learning.

Despite those unprecedented challenges, she said Region Five refused to allow the disaster to define its future, pointing instead to this year’s outstanding academic achievements, including producing the country’s top female public-school performer in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.

That student, 11-year-old Josannia Beadle of Park Mountain Primary and Infant School in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, is set to begin classes at Hampton School in September.

Crawford noted that Beadle’s achievement was especially significant because it came after Hurricane Melissa ripped the roof from Park Mountain Primary and Infant School, forcing the school community to overcome extraordinary challenges while preparing students for the national examinations.

She said principals became the “steady hands” that guided schools and communities through the crisis, mobilising teachers, supporting families, and ensuring that the destruction caused by the hurricane did not become a permanent setback for Jamaica’s children.

“The spirit of Region Five is not easily broken. When storms come, our leaders do not retreat; they stand firm,” Crawford said.

She also praised principals for leading with compassion and determination, describing them as the backbone of the education system and the driving force behind the region’s remarkable recovery.

Strengthen collaboration

Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, Senator Marlon Morgan, parliamentary secretary in the education ministry, challenged school leaders to strengthen collaboration across the region, arguing that schools achieving exceptional results have a responsibility to share their successful strategies with others.

Morgan said improving educational outcomes required principals to move beyond competition and embrace partnerships that would benefit every child.

“We do not have to see gains and excellence as something that our school alone should have,” Morgan said.

“We can mainstream it and collaborate with one another, learn from each other and not reinvent the wheel each time.”

He encouraged principals to adapt successful initiatives from neighbouring schools, saying collaboration would allow excellence to “cascade across the region”.

“It is often said, if we go alone, we will go quite fast. But if we go together, we will go farther,” he said.

Morgan also acknowledged that school leadership is often a demanding and underappreciated responsibility, making it important to recognise principals for their service.

“Principalship is oftentimes a thankless job,” he said. “It is within that context that I am particularly delighted that, as a ministry family and as a region, we pause on an occasion like this to affirm, honour and celebrate you for your contribution to education.”

While congratulating the award recipients, Morgan reminded principals that no school’s success is the work of a single individual.

“No one school leader could have made the results at a school possible. You owe it to your team, your board, your parents, your students, your support staff and your academic staff. It’s a team effort,” he said.

The parliamentary secretary said sustained improvements in educational outcomes depend on adequate funding, modern infrastructure, effective teaching and learning, strong school leadership, curriculum development, student nutrition, and active support from parents and other stakeholders.

Commending educators for steering their schools through what he described as one of the most difficult periods in recent history, Morgan thanked principals for their sacrifice and unwavering commitment to Jamaica’s children.

“We, as a region, as a ministry and as a nation, are eternally grateful for your sacrifice and your sterling effort,” he said, describing Region Five as a “region of champions”.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com