Delightful OJ surprise for Henry-Wilson

IT was a delightful surprise for Maxine Henry-Wilson when she received the news that she had been appointed to the Order of Jamaica (OJ) in this year’s national honours and awards. I have been in this thing for so many years from I was at high school [St Andrew High School for Girls] so it was totally unexpected,” the former Government minister told the Jamaica Observer. Henry-Wilson, who was appointed to the Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD) in 2018, added, “I am thankful to the Jamaican people and thankful to those who recognised me for whatever contribution I have made to Jamaica.” The two-term Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Eastern — 2002 to 2011 — had earlier served as Leader of Government Business in the Senate, and general secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP) for 10 years.

She also served in several Cabinet posts including minister of information and minister of education, a ministry she led until she stepped away from the political stage. But even after leaving representational politics, Henry-Wilson continued in her service to the country. “I was responsible for setting up the Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission.

That was one of the agencies that came out of the 2004 report on the education system. Its original mandate was to provide regulations for what was a fast-growing, and crucial segment of the education sector. Maxine Henry-Wilson hosting a post-Cabinet media briefing while serving as the Minister of Information.

“I did that for four or five years, then I was engaged with the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) for the setting up of its Caribbean Military Academy. And then I went to Mico [University College] as dean of its Graduate School of Education,” Henry Wilson told the Observer. “For all of that period, while I was formally engaged in the education system I was still working in what I call on the ground.

I have been chair of the Clan Carthy High School board of management for a while… and I am also on the St Andrew High School for Girls’ board as the chair of the education committee. “And those are where I have focused my energy for the last six or seven years because that’s where the rubber hits the road because that’s where you can assist in building capacity in areas such as students’ performance and faculty development and I still teach at The University of the West Indies,” said t…