The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

Three days after Ellen Campbell-Grizzle (PhD), received the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for service in the field of pharmacology locally and regionally, I sat down with her at her New Kingston based office to get an insight into the life and work of this remarkable and industrious daughter of Jamaica. The fifth of seven children, Dr. Grizzle was born in St. James; however, her parents migrated shortly after her birth to Grange Hill, Westmoreland where she completed primary education. A past student of the Grange Hill Primary School, she displayed early scholarly smarts and was rewarded with a government scholarship to St. Andrew High School for Girls. Dr. Grizzle described her late father, James Constantine Augustus Campbell as amazing and gentle who encouraged her to read from an early age. “He made me feel like a ‘princess”, she said of her dad. Interestingly, her dad was also a pharmacist who discouraged his daughter from pursuing a similar career path due to the long wor...

“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul”- Dave Pelzer Jamaica is often referred to as a Christian society. The society’s strong Judeo-Christian upbringing and socialization contribute to many of us being familiar with the Bible verse, Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly”. By now everyone would have watched or have heard of the video involving a mother dressed only in her underwear beating her pre-teen daughter with a machete. By now you would have come to arrive at some conclusion. For some in the society the mother should serve time in prison, while for others the mother should be given some counseling as well as parenting sessions. Historically, there is a sub-culture of a totalitarian approach to discipline as it relates to our children. Our perception of discipline is often skewed and most times no one comes to the defense of the victim. “A bad di pickney b...

“We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”-Native American Proverb Have you ever felt abandoned? That is exactly how many residents in Zone 14 in the corporate area felt over the last three weeks as they waited patiently to have their garbage collected by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA). The issues regarding the regular collection of garbage and solid waste management have been plaguing the society for a long time. Regrettably, despite the numerous attempts at finding solutions to this developmental issue, all such attempts have fallen short. The citizenry continues to be inconvenienced while the potential for a public health outbreak looms over the society. The State has a primary responsibility to remove garbage and to do so regularly.   Additionally, the disposal of solid waste must be done in a timely and environmentally friendly manner. Successive governments have not been able to effectively and efficiently manage ...