JTA'S Public Relations Officer, Miss Charmaine E. Gooden, along with a teacher at the Ocho Rios High School, Mrs. Charmaine Phillips, and three grade eight students went to Bristol and London on Tuesday, June 11, 2002. by Charmaine E. Gooden

On the professional Exchange to the Bristol Teachers' Association and the National Union of Teachers I was assigned to their Public Relations Office to examine the public relations programme with a view to comparing, contrasting and implementing. This exchange was as a result of a recent visit to Jamaica by two British Teachers, who are executive members of the Bristol Teachers' Association and the National Union of Teachers (Mrs. Paulette North and Mrs. Nina Franklin) who were sponsored by the British Council's Teacher International Development Exchange Programme. Mrs. North looked specifically at behavioural issues in Jamaican schools and Mrs. Franklin examined the work of the JTA. Both teachers were assigned to the Ocho Rios High School in St. Ann.

On arrival in Britain, I visited the National Union of Teachers Executive meeting, held at their headquarters, Hamilton House. I met with the Editor in their Journalism Department, Mr. Mitch Howard and his team of specialists. Their sole responsibility is to produce publications. On the tour of the office, my next meeting was with the Union's Public Relations Manager. We discussed her role as PRO and compared and contrasted what we do in our organizations. At the NUT, their communication Department is highly specialized with the Public Relations Officer focusing on publicity and corporate communications. The NUT has a membership of 230,000.

I was quite thrilled to attend a celebratory function put on by the NUT to celebrate the release of President of the Ethiopian Teachers' Federation, Dr. Taye WoldeSemiate from prison. Secretary General of the ETA, Gemoraw Kassa, who is currently exiled in England represented Dr. Taye who was unable to attend.

I visited HTV (Television Station), the Bristol City Council, the University of Western England (UWE) and toured the campus. They have a state of the art Education Faculty. I was also privileged to attend a Performing Arts Awards Function put on by the University. At the University, I met with the Director of Marketing and Public Relations, the Public Relations Manager and the Dean for International Affairs. I also got the opportunity to browse the UWE website. It is very informative and well designed website which is updated frequently by a team of staff members. The Vice Chancellor has expressed an interest in collaborating with the JTA and twining with the UWI in Jamaica.

Miss Nina Franklin and I attended a meeting of the Joint Trade Unions at the Bristol City Council. The meeting was very interesting and some of the issues raised were similar to those being experienced by teachers and other categories of workers in Jamaica. The meetings with the Public Relations and Information Technology Managers at the City Council were very fruitful. I got the opportunity to visit their website and got some innovative ideas from them.

While the schedule was quite hectic, the group got the opportunity to go on the London Eye, up the River Thames by boat and a chance to drive around London. I was fortunate to visit relatives and friends in Birmingham, Nottingham Aylesbury and other parts of London.

The Team from Ocho Rios High led by Mrs. Charmaine Phillips spent most of their time at St. George Community College in Bristol. They toured the BBC Radio Studio in Bristol and were interviewed. They also visited other places of educational interest.

After a socially and professionally rewarding trip, we took the long trek back to our beautiful island on June 24, 2002.