Ilean McGregor - Elgin Taylor

Teachers often bemoaned the fact that many parents have not been working along with the schools where the education of their children are concerned. This has resulted in poor academic performance and behaviour among the students.

Ilean McGregor, principal of Peniel Basic School in St Andrew, is one educator who can attest to the veracity of this statement. "At Peniel, the parents are very much involved in the activities of the school. They assist the school in its function, and they try their best to instil in their students proper values, although they are from a poor, inner-city environment. The students are doing well academically, and there are scarcely any fights or quarrels among them," she noted.

McGregor informed THE STAR that the school has a strong parental support programme in place, which is sponsored by the Barita Education Foundation. She stated that, under the programme, social workers come into the school and conduct workshops with the parents, at the end of which they are presented with certificates. She also made the claim that parental support enhances the self-concept of the students.

Barita also assists with a reading and math programme, sponsored to enhance literacy and numeracy among the 94 students ranging from ages three to five years. She stated that under this programme parents can borrow books at intervals to read to their children.

McGregor also underscored the importance of having a good, positive relationship with her academic staff of five teachers, who in turn foster a good relationship with the students.

"We work together well as a staff, and we talk to the students on a one-on-one basis. We are also open to the parents; any issue they have that we cannot solve, we refer them to people or organisations where they can get help, for example, Mico Care and the Early Stimulation Programme on Harbour Street," she noted.

Assistance has also come from another corporate entity, Digicel Foundation, in the form of the refurbishing of their reading room.

Born in Comsie district in Kellits, Clarendon, it has always been her dream to become a teacher. Now, she has not only fulfilled that dream, but the wife and mother of four proudly states that three of her children are also members of the teaching profession.

She started at Peniel as a class teacher in 1976, and was later trained at St Joseph's Teachers' College in St Andrew, where she obtained a diploma and a bachelor's degree in early-childhood education. She said that her wish is to see that every child in Jamaica receives a proper foundation in early-childhood education.