Alcoa Graduation speech
It was American writer Robert Gallagher who said (only slightly tongue in cheek) that change is inevitable - except from a vending machine…or perhaps you could add the ABM.
But seriously…as you gather here this morning on the verge of moving your life forward into the unknown, change will be inevitable! It is inevitable and indeed gratifying to see that you have become proficient in a new set of skills, and now stand ready to tackle and further your life-long education.
It is inevitable that structures and processes and relationships will change in your day-to-day lives. It is inevitable that you will face new challenges and it is inevitable that things may seem a little different in the year ahead. Yes, life is definitely going to become a little "shaken up and stirred".
But as we look back this morning on a journey – YOUR journey that started out perhaps with a little fear and with tentative steps, we see just how far you have progressed, and what is even more heartwarming than the newly acquired skills, is the glowing confidence tinged with pride radiating from your faces today.
It is confidence even more than book knowledge and technical skills that will see you through the toughest passages in your life…and who alive today is not going through a rough time?
Even those of us who have planned our lives very carefully now have to revisit those plans. Just two years ago, the whole world was plunged into the deepest financial crisis since the 1930s (long before anybody here was born)…with the richest countries leading the way. This changed the way all financial institutions do business, the way all countries plan, and ultimately shifting the ground under the every single one of the 6-billion inhabitants of the globe.
How has YOUR community been affected? Well, as you very well know – the bauxite industry was not spared, so it meant layoffs.
In some cases, a freeze on wages or hiring. This in turn has affected the purchasing power of the whole work force at Jamalco, along with that of the company itself…managing change as profound as this is certainly not for the faint of heart.
In all of this – how did you feel?
Having grit your teeth, dug in your heels with determination to take advantage of this opportunity – now do you feel NOW?
That is a real live example of life skills in action. It is about successfully negotiating your way around the challenges of change, including the virtual twists and turns along life’s journey.
Changes are not all bad, however and there are many changes we can simply embrace as they help to lift us higher. This includes technology, which facilitates greater levels of productivity and ultimately a better quality of life.
The paradox in all this is that while life has been changing for the better in many ways…it has also become more complex…take a simple domestic task like cooking in a microwave… even that involves a computerized platform.
The clear implication is that survival today requires a much higher level of being, and the days of being able to sign your name and read simple instructions to get a basic job are now history.
If we accept the fact that life skills require an ever changing set of competencies which we all must acquire to ‘stay in the game’, then we should no longer regard ‘literacy’ as a dirty word.
In fact, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines literacy as “a particular capacity and mode of behaviour: the ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities, at home, at work and in the community - to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.” This is a more useful notion than we shared in the past. In fact we now talk about ‘literacies’ – plural.
The truth is that life is much too complex to be judged merely on the simple manipulation of words and numbers.
What is the state of play in our country today? Are we really ‘ready for dis’ as the DJs put it?
Well, according to the literacy chapter of the STATIN/PIOJ Survey of Living conditions released only yesterday…
Nine in every 10 Jamaicans were Literate in 2008; reflecting an 11.8 percentage point improvement over 10 years. However, given the demands of today’s society for diverse literacy skills such as computer literacy, the potential of those with only Basic Literacy to take advantage of these opportunities is low.
We should be very concerned about the fact that two in every 10 Jamaicans are still not able to read, write and compute at a satisfactory level, even though they can ‘do a thing’. This has serious implications for a country that has become used to winning on and off the field. Jamaican people ‘fiesty’ – we hate to lose, and we like to know that ‘no guy nu betta dan we’. Much more than just bragging rights, this will have a serious impact on our quality of life, that of our children and their children.
So – how do you feel now that you know that YOU are part of the solution? You have moved from one level to the next, and you have mastered skills you did not have before… you have not allowed the changes of life to hold you back, you have been moving forward steadily.
YOU are helping to create that Jamaica of our 2030 Vision --- a place to live, work, raise families and do business.
It all begins in the mind…as that famous Sunday/Sabbath school chorus says – ‘you in your small corner and I in mine’
It is this determination that allowed Larkland ‘Boasty Boy’ Williams, after leaving St. Mary as an illiterate carpenter 20 years ago to get a job as a bus boy in a Montego Bay hotel to enrol in the then JAMAL and advance through basic to functional literacy to teaching himself German, to setting up his own tour company and now give his time to serving on the parish committee, and studying herbal medicine on the side …
That is truly personal freedom.
It is knowledge that sets people free. And it is education that assures freedom and democracy. The challenge or opportunity with acquiring knowledge on the way to education is that it is fluid. It is not a destination but a lifelong journey…I challenge you to treasure and make the most of every step along the way.
Your life will continue to be lined with special occasions, and I have no doubt you will be able to rise to each one with an open mind and with a passion for learning.
You just cannot look back now.
