Minister warns students against idolising “bling”

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - Education Minister, Reverend Ronald Thwaites has warned that the educational achievement of students is being severely compromised by poor values and attitudes, with focus being placed on material possessions and popular culture rather than learning. “We idolise bling, extreme fashions, whatever the current notion of popularity is,” he said, noting that many parents and grandparents, by their own conduct, foster these negative values. Addressing the addressing the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains Rev. Thwaites called on parents to set the proper examples by opposing those values that are inimical to educational attainment and national development.