Photo credit (Dean Clarke)
Straight-talking clergyman, Apostle Jeffrey Shuttleworth has warned that devotion needs to be a priority in schools again, if the country expects to counter the deviant behaviours currently being displayed by our children.
Speaking during yesterday’s church service to launch the Jamaica Teacher’s Association 58th Annual Conference at the Tarrant Baptist Church in Kingston, Shuttleworth strongly reinforced his support for the JTA, even as he urged the Association to put God first.
“If we are going to counter this haemorrhaging, this waywardness, this hooliganism, vulgarity, and recklessness and all the various immoral things that are taking place even in our schools, we must get back to Jesus Christ; get back to His Word; get back to prayer; make time for it. I cannot understand how is it that you have time for sports; but you have no time for devotion. How is it you have time for other extra-curricular activity and other co-curricular activities, but you have no time for 15 minutes of prayer? You are not serious about seeing change then,” he lamented.
The service was attended by the top hierarchy of the JTA: education minister, Fayval Williams; representatives from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, and opposition spokesman for Education and Youth, Senator Damion Crawford.
Shuttleworth said he has taken note of Williams’ call to partner with faith-based communities during an address on Saturday at the Andrews Memorial Seventh Day Adventist Church. However, he explained that not all within the community are in support of the Judeo-Christian principles. In fact, he said there are some deviants within the church community who are “wolf in sheep clothing”.
“I want to say here that not all faith-based communities are believers in the true and living God, and the kinds of problem that our children are facing; the kinds of behaviours that they are exhibiting can only be rectified by the power of the true and living God,” he said.
He shared that the Tarrant Baptist Church has been summoned to schools on occasions to deliver and pray for children. These evil forces only respond when the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth is used. It is for this reason that he urged the JTA officials to pray and remain grounded in the Word.
“We are saying to the JTA, ‘we stand with you and once God is for us, who can be against us?’”
“The only way that the forces of darkness can undermine and abort the plans that God has for the JTA is if they are able to infiltrate your ranks and divide you,” he warned, while assuring that God will help them to see through the deceptive arguments that are placed before them.
The theme for the JTA’s 58th Annual Conference is, “Revisiting the Foundation: Building our Human Capital through Equitable Educational Opportunities.” In addressing the matter of “equity”, Williams admitted that there are several gaps that need to be closed in the education sector.
“There is too much of a gap between the best and the unsatisfactory; too much of a gap in exam performance; too much of a gap in infrastructure; too much of a gap in alumni support; too much of a gap in resources and too much of a gap in the most important area- parental support. We have to close these gaps, and quickly, if we want to have a hope of really accelerating our human capital in a sustainable way,” she reasoned.
She said the Education Ministry values the input and perspectives of the JTA, as they are important to advancing the country’s development through education.
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Excellent article! Well- captured content! A word in due season for the JTA and teachers in general.