If one is looking for a case study in the role of leadership in improving school performance, then Godfrey Stewart High School, formerly Savanna-la-Mar Comprehensive High School, is a classic example. Once plagued by low levels of academic performance coupled with negative behaviours, the school is gradually becoming Westmoreland’s centre for mathematics, which is no mean feat as, according to the school’s website, “incoming students are usually at the lower end of the academic continuum with only 18 – 25 per cent of them functionally literate”.

A preliminary audit conducted by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is showing a reduction in the number of critical incidents in schools involving the use of weapons.