A Canadian volunteer, who served as an assistant teacher at the Blossom Pre-school in Eggleston for the last five months, has raised concerns over the suitability of the school building.
Amy McIntosh, 19, told Dominica News Online in an exclusive interview that she does not believe that the current structure, which is also being used to house a church, is the most conducive for the children’s convenience or learning.
“The building is kinda rotten down … At the end of every Wednesday and Friday afternoon everything has to be packed away, the tables, the chairs because they use them as a church for the weekend. So the teacher, Miss Xavier has to pack everything and place it in a cupboard and store it, and then on Monday morning come in early and put it back. It just makes her life ten times harder. I mean she’s gotta work extra hard,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh said that through her efforts the school has been able to receive some stationery donations from Canada, that has helped, but has not fully appealed to the real needs of the institution.
According to her, persons need to be aware of the importance of early childhood education, and since it is essential to the young learners it should be given priority.
“I think it’s pretty vital for the kids because they learn how to interact with children and learn the basics to prepare them for primary school. I would advise parents to send their children to pre-school.
McIntosh also complained that pre-school teachers earned a very low salary which should not be acceptable.
She traveled back to her homeland on Tuesday to continue her studies; however she intends to return with a few more volunteers to aid in community projects on completion of her studies.
McIntosh said that her experience on the island and her work at the Blossom Pre-school was life-changing and beautiful.
According to her, the Blossom Pre-school houses some 20 children, ranging from age two- and-a-half to four years.
The school is managed by lone teacher Cyrilla Xavier.
HERMISHA ROLLE/STAFF REPORTER.
I am a friend of the McIntosh family and like them am very proud of Amy and the work she has done in Dominica. Amy made the decision to volunteer on the island to work with the children, hoping that she could make a difference. By all accounts she achieved this.
When asked to comment on her time there and the conditions she experienced she answered truthfully, she hoped that by pointing out areas for improvement she could make even more of a difference. After all if things were perfect volunteers would not be needed.
It seems that most people agree with her and I hope that improvements can be made to make the early years learning years in the best possible environment for the children.
Thanks for the support of many of you. None of my comments were disrespectful to the island i was merely pointing out a serious lack of support for the pre schools not only in eggleston but island wide. i am disapointed that some people compared me to a weed smoking peace corps worker, i was/am trying to raise awarness to the importance and value of pre schools.
@ Steve U Right,
I am sorry that you believe that saying your thinking is archaic is viewed as an insult, because it was not my intention. However, your comments on “yes men” and “suck ups” is misplaced in this context. To whom am I sucking up? If I am sucking up to the belief that our children need a twenty first century education – complete with environment and resources; and I agree with someone who shares the same sentiment as I, then I am happy to be a suck-up. When it comes to educating our children, there is no middle ground or compromise. We should just do it right.
…and for the record, you were not giving a thought. You were actually critiquing Amy’s feedback and the deficiencies that she discovered.
If I get what you are trying say, your way of educating a child is to have him/her sit on a rock and use his/her hand as a pencil in the sand, because success is sweeter if they suffer through it.
I do not want to have my children suffer through an unnecessary process in the name of resiliency. Many of the kids out there don’t beat the odds, becuase they do not have the basic means to begin with. en nous reflecher, frere.
@Steve
I’m a pre school teacher and let me tell you… She is on point with everything she has said. Its a shame though that it took a foreigner to point it out.
For too long we are not even being considered “real” teachers, and most pple believe that preschool is just another term for daycare.
Our hardwork and dedication in early childhood goes unnoticed by even the ministry of education
Before you trash the foreigner ( I assume because she is a foreigner, ure bitter) take a day and spend it at one of the preschools around the island, especially those that fully depends on the school fees for school maintenace, salary; so small they can’t even benefit from raising funds due to the poverty of the the community, yet are filled with loving dedicated teachers who provide much needed tools to enhance the transition into the primary level. Spend a day at one of these schools before you come on Here and run your mouth.
We are in the fire we feel the heat, whether we speak up or not, our voices to be respected and recognised are not being heard. So way to go to Amy. I’m sure other preschool teachers will agree with me.
@ Dubiqois….Thank you I will take this as a compliment. My thinking may be archaic but it is THINKING nonetheless. Wish I could say the same for you…cause apparently you don’t think at all!…What is archaic is your inability to express your views without personally criticizing others!
If you choose to agree with everything someone says because they come from abroad that is you!…Not all of us like to be “yes men” and “suck ups”!
steve please what is so wrong with what amy has said, she is right on every pointe. Bad talk what country, because you choose to let other people think for you, you think is all of us who allow people to think for us? People like you will see someone commit and crime with your own eyes and u will still say the person did not do it. she said that because she was there, and she had first hand information, so she has a right to speak out. it is time that we give recognition to the pre-school teachers and give them proper environments to work in. remember they are the first in our childrens lives when we are ready to send them out. It is time we show great appreciation to parents who care for their children, a Baby-sitter who takes care of our children and to the PRE-SCHOOL Teacher who helps mold them when we send them out there. remove the wool over your eyes steve.
Dominicans do not live in a vacuum. Our children need the best resources and tools to compete in a global market. We have to send them out into the world well equipped. This is not the age of donkey and donkey box. This is not the age of having young men and women working in banana fields. We need to understand that those days are long gone. We need our children to be well versed in technology, operations, healthcare, hospitality (tourism), agricultural sciences, solar energy, etc.
I think many Dominicans are afraid of change. Just because we grew up one way does not mean that our children have to follow the same path.
Amy, Many thanks for your contributions.
TO: Steve U Right:
MANY DOMINICANS NEED TO STOP HIDING AND THINKING UNDER A CALABASH. CHANGE IS INEVITABLE. OUR CHILDREN NEED THE BEST TOOLS IN THEIR TOOL KIT IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL. THAT BEGINS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND THE RESOURCES PROVIDED TO THEM. HOW DO YOU STRETCH THE IMAGINATION IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES TO FEED IT?
IF YOU KNEW THE PROBLEMS EXISTED, WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO REMEDY IT?
I DO NOT MEAN TO BE CRITICAL, BUT YOUR THINKING IS ARCHAIC.
I am the father of Amy , and I think that her comments have beeen taken completely out of context by steve , she did not ” Bad Talk ” Dominica , in fact she absolutely loved her time there . And she is already talking about returning at a later time in her life . She was asked to comment on her time there and what was the education system is like from her perspective . She gave her honest opinion , based on her hands-on knowledge . If you do not like her opinion then that is a matter you . But please do not think she was showing disrespect , because that simply isn’t true .
typical dominican attitude…yes our children will go on and those who really want to achieve will do better. Yet, thats no reason not to upgrade our facilities. its a shame that it took a foreigner to come to our own island and bring this to the attention of the public. many of u see it simply as criticism.. i see it as constructive criticism. Alot of the time we think if its not broken y fix it. we’ve lived so for how much years so we doh have a problem. However its this mentality that has had dominica..and dominicans wstill in a “3rd world” state. We are still driving on donkey cart roads…yet every month we import bigger vehicles. People our children in Eggliston and other villages need better facilities. I commend Ms. McIntosh for speaking out n voicing her opinion as this level of operation is unacceptable in 2010. Talking bout bringing things to the next level… yet we dont want to do shit to improve our current state. the teacher has to move desks herself to make way for a church….why dont the “church” members volunteer to move the desks? why can’t the church and the school raise funds to develop the building since they are both using it? lemme guess…they waiting on government. i could go on and on… but will leave it at that. wake up Dominicans, stop leaving everything up to chance and God and Government. make your own moves and strive for better. Other islands are doing much better than us because their attitude towards progress is different than ours. and SHAME on those who reject the critcisms of Ms. McIntosh. i support her statements 100%
I agree with you Steve 1000%. We are making the best of whatever little we have. Our children still go on to do much better than their children in their comfortable pre-schools with plush rugs and whatnot. We as black Caribbean people are used to being resilient and we will continue to excel…rotten school or not. Sometimes too much comfort breeds complacency. Success is that much sweeter when it is achieved by beating all odds.
Not too long ago a peace corp volunteer was assigned to my village…he spent the entire time smoking weed and then went back and expressed all sorts of criticisms about the village and how villagers only congregated when they saw snakes but not to have important meetings. Maybe if he had spent less time with vagrants smoking weed then people would have taken him and his meeting requests more seriously.
We need more child-conscious individuals like Amy who will call it for what it is. If it looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it is a duck. Maybe this pre-school will finally get the recognition it deserves and the children will be placed in a facility more conducive to learning.
We must remember “the children are our future, we should treat them well, and let them learn their way, show them all the beauty they posses inside, give them a sense of hope, and make it easier for them.”
Steve, The concern here is about the well being of the kids. Amy’s comment, was clear; this is not a conducive environment for learning. I concur with her. We Dominicans, seems to accept everything we have as standard.
This is what I refer to as constructive criticism. This young lady is very right. We may take offense that a foreigner has come to our shores and pin-pointed something that’s not right, but I am glad that she did because too often we hid our heads in the sand and pretend that things are okay. Pre-school is one of the first steps to socialization for many children, so we have to give pre-school teachers the respect and support they need in order to ensure that they do what is right by our children. Training for teachers, safe environments for the schools and attractive salaries commensarate with the job the do should be a priority. If a building is inappropriate for a school, then I guess it is also inappropriate for a church. People make do with what they have, but Steve, it does not mean that it is safe. We should, as a people, stop becoming so defensive. Acceptance is the first step towards the remedy of a problem.
I think the comments made by Amy are very important constructive critisim that should alarm the education minister. First of all, pre-school is the most critical stage of education, and teachers as well as the children they educate should be surrounded with all needed comfort to accomplish their goals.
I applaud Amy for volunteering her time and also for making a positive observation in the process. Everyone has a right to their opinion, however, I don’t think her intention was to “bad talk” Dominica.
I’m really happy that she noticed all the hard work that early childhood education (formally pre school) teachers are faced with for the pittance they received(yes I’m one)
Early childhood education has been overlooked for too long in this country. I’ve just started, and I’m appalled by the sheer disregard that early childhood education teachers are faced with from the ministry of education here in D/ca
Steve you’re and A** so I will excuse you for being so dam illiterate . What the lady saying is the truth .
First of these seventh day adventist members need to build there church its about time !!!!!
raise funds if you’ll need to. They’re a bunch of ungrateful people that contribute nothing to the community . .. When they’re using the children’s school for their church service they leave the place in a mess , they leave the toilets on flush etc . their kids play with the preschool children toys and breaks it and the parents never replace it . Secondly preschool teachers in Dominica are way under paid .
This teacher in particular charges sixty dollars a month per child and some of the parents never pay on time and some of them even think its to much, but yet they dress up in all fancy clothes idiot thing that !!! . I don’t give a rats A$$ who gets upset at what I said its the truth .
Hoping some renovation will be done soon so the children can learn in a nice , clean and comfy environment.
Steve, your comment here is so inappropriate. Aren’t you concern of child safety? So much focus and care is given to the elderly. That I support. But, children are the future of tomorrow and every aspect of their lives must be protected. Children learn best in an environment that is conducive. It is just unfortunate that Ms. McIntosh raised this awareness at the time of her departure.
Steve,
My friend, you have completely missed it. We are talking about the future of our island/country. She is highlighting a deficiency in our educational structure that needs improvement. We are so use to settling for mediocrity that we refuse to see areas needing improvement. Give it some thought, and come around again.
This is not an isolated scenario. I have seen this in many places.
…and…and…You cannot build a house without a foundation. 100 mil towards building a road, and our children are being educated in caisse paille. I have rung this alarm many times in the past. We suffer with what is called misdirected energy and twisted priorities. Our hospitals do not have adequate resources to care for the sick, but we are rehabilitating a road for 100 mil.
I have visited many schools in Dominica, because I am thinking of creating a couple of educational resource centers in needy villages, and I am appalled at the lack of basic reources needed to spark young minds. I am happy that I am not the only one who is bringing this to the surface.
Let us hope that the four-pillar projects detailed in the MOU by the PM will trickle down to the smaller schools in the less advantaged districts. The four-pillar projects: (1) Stadium (2) Rehabilitaion of the PMH (3) West coast road (4) Dominica Grammar School.
Way to go Amy…great job and you will be greatly missed. Know that a bed is always waiting for you Chez Mama Joyce. Hugs and Kisses.
thats all these vounterrs worth. They come to the island smile with you then bad talk the country. The building may be run down but it is used to house a church.