For 37 years, Principal of the Calabar Infant, Primary and Junior High School, in Kingston, Raymond Munroe, has given unwavering service to education.

A Kingston College old boy, Mr. Munroe had plans to become a police officer, but with much pleading from his mother, he changed his mind and enrolled at what was then known as Mico Teachers’ College.

On completing his studies in 1976, he joined the staff at Calabar Infant, Primary and Junior High School where he has remained.

For his service, Mr. Munroe was presented with the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education on June 23.

He tells JIS News that he experienced some challenges when he joined the institution, but he embraced them and worked assiduously to improve conditions at the school.

“When I came here, the school had two children passing Common Entrance Examination, so I took up the challenge and started to work with those children and the first year four children passed, then the following year eight, the next year 12 and it started to climb, and so other parents wanted their children to come to Calabar to do that examination,” he shares.

His exceptional work with the students led to his recommendation to become Vice Principal within his first three years of teaching.

“Persons questioned this recommendation because the protocol is that you would move up the rank to become a senior teacher and then vice-principal. The teachers, however, encouraged and supported me. The residents also supported me as someone who used to live in the community,” he says.

In 1997 he was again promoted as Principal and has gone on to implement a number of initiatives and programmes that have transformed the lives of many students and community members.

Through his negotiation with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), an auditorium and multipurpose court were built through funding from the European Union-funded Poverty Reduction Programme.

An evening programme was also developed to assist parents and other community members who failed to complete primary- and tertiary-level education. The programme, with the help of teachers who volunteer their time, has been a huge success.

“Last year we had a mother and a daughter in the programme. The daughter was in high school but was doing poorly in English. The mother received grade two and the daughter got grade three in CSEC,” he notes, adding that the school has also conducted several parenting seminars.

Another initiative is the Big Brother Programme for male students.

“We realised that some of them were going in the wrong direction, so we got some of the men in the school and through that programme we have used the performing arts, music, drama and literacy to improve their grades, because some of them were not reading at their grade level; so we made them a part of the literacy and numeracy programme,” Mr. Munroe says.

The Principal notes that they are also taught entrepreneurship by having them distribute fruits to the classes and collecting the money.

“This teaches them money management and confidence and when they do that they feel a part of the school because they are recognised. Also, when they play the instruments and do drama they feel appreciated and have a sense of worth,” he tells JIS News.

The Principal says a similar programme has also been implemented for the female students.

He Is My Hero 

Past student and teacher at the institution, Nordia McLeod Thomas, has known Mr. Munroe for over 30 years and describes him as compassionate and the father she never had.

“He is my unsung hero. When I was a student here, many days I came without lunch he would provide that for me. He would help to purchase books for me. After school, I would do extra classes with him at no cost. He is very motivational. He would say, ‘You live in the ghetto but you do not have to represent the ghetto’, and once he said that to me, my attitude would change, my walk and talk would change to the point where people would call me Miss English,” she recalls.

Mrs. McLeod Thomas says that even after she left high school and failed to get all her subjects, Mr. Munroe encouraged her and helped to set her on her career path.

“I completed high school with only three subjects and he referred me to HEART and I did on-the-job training at a preparatory school for one year and after that he helped me fill out the application form for teachers’ college,” she notes.

Mrs. McLeod Thomas, on completing her diploma, worked overseas for some years. She says the treatment she received from Mr. Munroe inspired her to return home and extend the same love and care she was given.

The Principal also encouraged several of his staff, some who joined the institution as cashiers and clerical assistants, to become teachers with some even obtaining Masters level qualification.

As Mr. Munroe prepares to retire in August, he is encouraging teachers and parents to give of their best to the children.

Source: Jamaica Information Service