Edwin Leopold Allen

Edwin Leopold Allen was born April 17, 1905 at Foxes River, Brandon Hill in the parish of St. Andrew to David and Aneita Celestine Allen. David Allen was a builder and farmer and Aneita was the daughter of James Tully Nugent, Maroon Captain of Scotts Hall.

EDUCATION
Between 1912 and 1924, Edwin Allen attended Mount James Elementary (now All Age) School, St. Andrew and West Branch Elementary (now All Saints Primary) where he received his early education. He regularly walked 5 miles to school and additional mile for music lessons.

Between 1925 and 1927 he attended Mico Teachers’ College where he graduated with honours. He had placed first in the Mico Entrance Examination of 1925. At the Mico, Edwin Allen proved an outstanding student. He took the first prize in the Annual Original Poem and Essay Competition in his first year and during his second year, placed with the most brilliant students in the 3rd year batch to do advanced studies in Mathematics, English and Latin.

He excelled in academia being the first Mico student to gain 6 distinctions in his third year and was the Mico Honours Man of 1927.

In 1948, he entered the Institute of Education, University of London on a scholarship, where he earned a Bachelors of Art in Education. He was the first of four Primary School teachers so honoured.

TEACHING CAREER
The young Edwin Allen began his teaching career at his alma mater, Mount James Elementary as a pupil teacher 1923 – 24, prior to entering Mico. His first teaching appointment was at Mount Felix, St. Thomas, where he served as Headmaster, January 1928 to February 1929.

He moved to Chantilly, Manchester, where he served as Headmaster from March 1929 to December 1930. From January 1931 to December 1950, he was Headmaster at Leisterfield Elementary, Clarendon. Under his adroit leadership, Leisterfield School became the leading school in the Jamaica Local Examinations and was champion in Clarendon in the field of cricket, athletics, cattle rearing, animal husbandry, arts and craft and elocution.

Teacher Allen, as he was affectionately called, had transformed the D graded Leisterfield School into one of the top performing institutions of the day. At Leisterfield, children and adults were being prepared for the Jamaica Local Examinations, London Matriculation Examination and External University degrees

INVOLVEMENT IN THE JAMAICA UNION OF TEACHERS (JUT)
Edwin Leopold Allen, like many of his colleagues in the teaching profession, recognized the role politics played in furthering the education agenda. He realized that only through representational politics could education make the advance that was needed. Accordingly, he was an active member and officer of the JUT first, as representative for Frankfield (North Clarendon) Federation, now referred to as District Association, serving as executive member from 1937.

In 1948, he became member of the Central Executive of the Union but relinquished that position in 1949 upon his election the House of Representatives.

The JUT affiliate and successor organization were a veritable training ground for teachers with political aspirations. Edwin Allen used the platform the union provided to launch his career in representational politics and in return bolstered the image of the JUT.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
In the spirit of the time, a teacher had to be a community person. Indeed, social organization and community activity revolved around the school and the church. A successful teacher then was expected to be grounded in the church and had influence in the community. Edwin Allen’s involvement in the social life of North Western Clarendon laid the basis for his election first as Member of the House of Representatives and later as Member of Parliament.

He led programmes designed to bring about reforms in agriculture and also those designed to resettle persons on the land. He was instrumental in the cutting of roads in the hilly reaches of North Clarendon and made a number of initiatives designed to have piped water in these communities.

In 1948, he initiated the migration of coloured people to England and pioneered a scheme to have young ladies trained as nurses. The Canadian Household Helpers’ Scheme also had his involvement.

He served as Lay Preacher and later Cathecist in the Anglican Church. He was also active in the Jamaica Agricultural Society where he served in various capacities.

POLITICAL CAREER
His political career spanned 34 years (1949 – 1983). He represented the constituency of North Western, Clarendon, in the House of Representatives between 1949 to 1959, when he was defeated in the General Election. In 1959, he was member of the Legislative Council (precursor to the Senate). He was elected Member of Parliament between 1962 to 1976, when he was again defeated. He was however re-elected in 1980, serving as Member of Parliament until December 1983.

Ministerial Postings
His versatility and astuteness won him several ministerial appointments. He acted as Minister of Labour, September to October 1953; and Minister of Education and Social Welfare in the Pre-Independence Government. In the first Independence Government, he was Minister of Education, 1962 – 1972, a senior Ministerial position and during the 1980 – 83 incumbency of the Jamaica Labour Party led government, was Special Advisor to the Government on Education.

Political Party Leadership
He rose to the office of third Deputy Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and acted as Prime Minister on several occasions. He was an active participant in initiatives to establish the West Indies Federation and served as member of the Standing Committee on the West Indies Federation. He also chaired the Draft Constitution Committee of the West Indies Democratic Labour Party.

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION
Edwin Leopold Allen represented Jamaica in 1962 as delegate to UNESCO and gained a World Bank loan to finance a school building programme. He built upon the Common Entrance Programme to secondary schools by introducing the 70-30 ratio in favour of pupils of public primary schools to gain admission to secondary schools.

His greatest contribution to the education sector was his “New Deal in Education” published in 1965 which pledged “opportunity for the best education that the country can afford be opened to every child”. To this end, the secondary sector was expanded with the building of several new secondary schools, opening up secondary education opportunities to children not previously accessible to such. He could truly qualify as one of the architects of our modern education system.

This astute politician, committed educator and social reformer, earned many laurels including:

vMico Gold Medal Award vOrder of Jamaica vVice President, UNESCO(1970) vVice President, Conference of Ministers of Education Latin America and the Caribbean (1971) Edwin Leopold Allen lit the torch of educational enlightenment in the Clarendon hills which radiated nationally, thus illustrating how the teacher’s impact is far reaching. Edwin Leopold Allen – a true trailblazer.