Hilary Robertson-Hickling

In an environment such as ours it is easy to become demoralised as there are so many things going wrong. We are daunted by the prospects for the future of the large population of young people in our country. We are particularly concerned for those who seem headed for the criminal justice system or a life of underachievement and wasted potential.

The recently reported developments at Jamaica College are a step in the right direction where the collaboration of the staff, past students, students at risk and parents has yielded positive results. The experience encourages us not to give up but to become more creative in the task of developing our young people and country. Many schools need to develop such programmes to raise the levels of performance and restore the reputations of schools which once were associated with excellence.

With improvements in student performance and the schools' reputation, many other persons and institutions will be prepared to make the much needed investment. Our seeming ambivalence about excellence will only result in the expansion of schools with the reduction of quality of the schools' performance. Quality and quantity are both important, and we are fooling ourselves and the young people involved when we allow them to graduate without achieving anything of value.

Large classes, inadequately prepared teachers and students will not achieve the desired results. I realise that with all of the limitations of my colonial and post-colonial education, I was prepared to function in a global environment. My teachers were largely Jamaican and British graduates of some of the best universities in Britain and the Caribbean. We have to start embracing the best in the world without any sense of inferiority on our part.

Feeling encouraged

I was enthralled to hear the new president of Harvard speak about the atmosphere of excellence in which we worked. She noted that in the 371-year-old institution which is now the richest in the world students are writing books, establishing new entrepreneurial ventures and doing exciting things. Instead of feeling inferior or inadequate I felt encouraged to raise the bar for excellence in all of the institutions where I have any influence.

We must get rid of the can't do mentality and remember that ordinary Jamaicans have done extraordinary things in our very challenging environment. We cannot settle for mediocrity for we will simply fade in the world today. There are frequent advertisements by high schools in North America encouraging our students to come. We owe the next generation the best chance of success and must make them aware of their responsibility in the process. Where we do not have the resources we need to establish partnerships with local and foreign partners to develop new high-quality institutions.

Jamaica College is well on its way to producing the men of excellence who provided leadership in all aspects of national life again. I am sure that the members of the present school body are feeling proud of their heritage and secure in its future. Nothing succeeds like success.