Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Education (MoE) takes note of a letter written by the former Vice Principal (acting) of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), Mr. Errol London who served as said acting Vice Principal from February 2022 to when he demitted office in July of 2023.
Mr. London’s ire appears to be based on a social media post as a response from the PR Department under another post (not as a stand-alone) which said that the everyday operations of the College are managed independently by the Principal of the College but that the Ministry would investigate the complaints. It should be noted that the Principal of the College happens to be the letter writer’s sister.
Just for clarity, all institutions are managed independently by the institution with broad guidelines and policies from the Central Ministry through its Education Systems Committee of which the Principal is a member. It is well understood that the Principal functions as the day-to-day manager of CPCE. Specifically, the Principal provides supervision and direction for the efficient functioning of CPCE and is responsible for the administration of the College’s campus and off-campus centres. It is the same with other learning institutions. For example, the Government Technical Institute (GTI) is managed independently by the Principal, other administrative managers, and their Board if there is one. If lecturers don’t teach or fail to mark scripts or give results, it is the Principal and her team who must act to change that for the better. If a teacher in a high school fails to finish the syllabus or fill in the report card at the end of the term, it is the head teacher and his/her senior management who are responsible for changing that circumstance. If the school fails, it is the duty of the Ministry to send in help.
Interestingly, that PR post was made under one of the numerous posts made by a social media commentator/activist going under the name and style of “Melly Mel” where the said activist posted several complaints from persons who indicated that they were CPCE students and said (a)they were unable to access their grades since their first to fourth semesters in 2021 – 2022 (b) they were told by the College that their grades were missing and they would have to re-do the courses but (c) they were not offered supplementals in a timely manner to so redo (d) they were unable to access courses they needed to graduate (e) they were unaware of their status as far as it related to their graduation (f) that although they were placed into schools they were not being paid, et al.
In his letter to you, Editor, Mr. London was least concerned about any of those complaints by the CPCE students whose cohort is made up of mostly our young people wanting to serve this nation by teaching. His only concern is that a post under another post said that the College is run by the Principal. A matter that is actually a fact. That may be telling.
The College wrote to the Minister on Thursday 19th October, the day the complaints became known to us to say that all was well and there were no issues at the College; that they were all dealt with and addressed. That letter was addressed “senior administration,” perhaps there clearly indicating that no person was willing to own the responsibility to serve the students.
Nevertheless, as is her modus, and to be sure and to resolve the trainee’s issues and/or to make sure the resolution was communicated to the students, the Minister of Education met with the trainees at the Turkeyen campus on Friday last. There, the Minister learnt that none of the trainees knew of the alleged solutions claimed by the “senior administration” and/or none had been communicated to them if indeed they were made.
The MoE is pleased to report that all the issues raised by the trainees were resolved satisfactorily and they were resolved not only for the trainees who attended the meeting but for across the country. The Heads of Centres were there at the meeting and undertook to communicate the decisions to all the trainees.
Mr. London held the second highest administrative position at CPCE and as such he is answerable for many of the issues which currently exist. From 2020, when the new Government assumed office where they found the College’s doors tightly shut without any plan to re-open, to now, Mr. London attended every meeting to discuss the future of the College and the implementation of the curriculum with Central Ministry, heard the suggestions and recommendations, participated in making the decisions and then failed, refused and/or neglected to put systems in place to effectively carry out those decisions so that students were not harmed. It may be useful if the former Vice Principal (Administration) could say what part he played in firstly preventing the issues complained about by the students from coming about and secondly in ensuring that these issues were addressed.
Editor, we are aware change doesn’t come without resistance. Sometimes that resistance is genuine abhorrence for change and sometimes it is resistance to cause trouble or to stymie progress. Time usually reveals the purpose. We wish Mr. London the very best in his retirement.
Yours faithfully,
Saddam Hussain
Chief Education Officer
Ministry of Education
