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Huit Johnson - Elgin Taylor
Perhaps the most pressing need of teachers and administrators in the education system today is to have adequate resources with which to do their job effectively. This problem, however, is not one which adversely affects Huit Johnson, principal of St John's Primary School in Spanish Town, St Catherine.
"We do not wait on the Government to give us all the things to make us comfortable; instead we have two or three big fund-raising events for the year to provide needed resources and facilities," he informed The Star. With a population of just under 2,000 students, and a very supportive staff and parent-teachers association, he was able to carry out these ventures successfully.
Johnson revealed that his greatest challenge as an administrator has to do with the high teacher-pupil ratio which exists at his institution. He noted that at present it is in the region of 45 students per teacher.
He is also very concerned about the way the general society has been socialising the young people, and hopes that the strategies he has put in place will prove to be the more dominant factor in their lives.
These include programmes like KINGDOM and PAID. The former comprises a group of students, mostly boys, and himself. The students are referred to as princes and princesses; he is the king in the kingdom. Those targeted are mainly students with attitudinal problems who need remedial intervention. Emphasis is placed on mediation and the building of self-esteem.
PAID stands for Poor, Ambitious, Intelligent and Disciplined, and targets school leavers. With the help of the teachers, students who display these character traits are identified and given a one-off scholarship of $10,000 to assist with their high-school education on graduating from the institution. Ninety thousand dollars were disbursed to students for the 2009/2010 school year, while for 2010/2011, $240 were paid out to them.
In underscoring the point that his students have been making strides academically, he stated that in the last Grade Four Literacy Test performance, they finished seven per cent above the national average.
The educator of 32 years has also taught at Pondside All-Age School in Hanover and Eccleston Primary in St Catherine. He received training at Sam Sharpe Teachers' College and G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport. He is very much involved in other activities like being a distinguished president of the Kiwanis Club of Spanish Town, an integral member of Westmore's Citizen Association, as well as serving on several committees of the Jamaica Teachers' Association.
Johnson has won several awards, among them the Ben Hawthorne Award for service to education, the Godfrey Dyer Award for service to the Kiwanis movement, and the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding service to education.
