It is up to primary school principals to capture the minds of the nation’s children before they end up in the news.
President of the Association of Public Primary School Principals (APPSP), Ivan Clarke, said they were often the ones who had to find solutions to the problems faced by today’s children.
“Our job is becoming even tougher because of the blame game in terms of the crime situation. We are having a situation where young, strong men who, rather than building our society, find themselves at Dodds and that is something we really can’t afford.
“We can blame parents or the music but we have our part to play in terms of making sure our schools are inclusive. We can’t afford to have anyone being marginalized because I am convinced it is those persons who are going to gravitate towards crime,” he said.
Clarke, who was speaking at an APPSP annual breakfast meeting on Wednesday at Hilton Barbados, Needham’s Point, St Michael, said it was up to principals to find links with parents to find solutions and if the parents were not willing to do so, then principals had to either convince them or find other avenues.
“We have a duty. I’m not saying we take full responsibility but once children are in [our schools] our duty is to ensure we give of our best because we cannot afford to lose [our children]. It is an investment on our part, in more ways than one,” he said.
Clarke also advised the principals to stay healthy mentally and physically; keep abreast of modern practices and come together and make use of each other’s knowledge as well as the knowledge within the association itself.
