Elgin Taylor, Star Writer

The way we organise our schools for management is through the structure that has come to be known as the hierarchical pyramid.

The highest forms of responsibility reside with those at the top. Many school managers have found this arrangement to be effective, and among them is Marva Guest, principal of the Spanish Town Primary School in St Catherine. She made her preference known in a recent interview with TheStar.

"Yes, the chain of command causes less pressure for me and allows me more time to do other things," she noted.

She pointed out that the job was not an easy one, but that she had been coping with the assistance of a cadre of dedicated teachers. She noted that the school was a reflection of the wider society but added that their aim is to get the students "to conform to our expectations as against what is out there".

She also shared that the students' reading performance was a little above average and that there was more work to be done.

Professional Training

Guest has been a member of staff at the institution since 1971 but assumed her present position on September 1, 2011. She became a member of the profession on the promptings of her late father and received initial certification at West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University).

Further training saw her gaining a primary education diploma, as well as a bachelor's and master's degree in education from the University of the West Indies.