Minister’s directive for slogan removal insulting- Principal
According to her, the school was given permission by former Minister for Education Hon. Andrew Fahie to use the slogan on the building at its own expense and it was done to boost morale among students and staff.
Our sources have reported that Minister for Education and Culture Myron V. Walwyn instructed that the newly erected signage, with words ‘The Mighty Mighty’, be removed from the school and replaced with ‘Althea’. Furthermore, Virgin Islands News Online’s sources within the Ministry of Education and Culture stated that the Minister reportedly directed the school principal that the removal be completed before school re-opened today Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
Ms. Flax-Headley said she received an email Sunday night from Acting Chief Education Officer Jillian Douglas-Phillip instructing that the sign be removed. She said no one ever called to say why nor did the email include a reason for the decision. “The school has a principal, and two assistant principals, not one of us were called. The sign is there for a reason and we got permission to put it there. I feel that the department should have had the courtesy to dialogue with us if there was a problem with the sign.”
Meanwhile, Minister Walwyn has since issued a statement on the matter in which he said it is a long standing policy for the Government of the Virgin Islands to name schools in honour of outstanding educators and that the Althea Scatliffe Primary School is one such institution. “The recent painting of what appeared to be a slogan on the school, though ingenious and fosters school spirit, is not in keeping with the expressed desire to honour those who served and the promoting of their legacy of service. The said signage has thus been removed from the school building after the principal was informed accordingly,” the statement read.
“It is noteworthy to inform the public that such a sign on the exterior of a public building should be approved by Government or may be placed on the interior of the building on a bulletin board or as a poster,” the statement concluded.
But according to the principal, the intention was never to deny anyone their due recognition and maintains that the matter should have been handled differently as much effort was put into enhancing the appearance of the school, including putting the slogan, which was intended to instill pride in the students and teachers. She further said some of the teachers were upset about the way the matter was handled and now parents have been inquiring about the sign. “I am appalled and the teachers are also upset. I have been at the Althea Scatliffe Primary for 19 years and the slogan didn’t come with me. I met it here. There is a chant that goes ‘everywhere we go, Who we are: Mighty, Mighty Scatliffe’. It’s just a morale boosting chant.”
The school, located in Road Town and the biggest elementary school in the Virgin Islands, has dominated most school activities for years, especially in inter-school sports. It has an enrolment of about 510 students.
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