Dear Editor,

Every now and then, I take the time to leaf through the pages of the Daily Observer’s “Study Centre” supplement on Tuesdays which covers a truly wide range of subjects on which tutors across the country make some very commendable contributions to the benefit of the students who must find this feature extremely useful. But every now and then, I am appalled at the type and number of errors that keep creeping up in some of these presentations which are being passed on to students for their study and learning process.

One such instance was in the most recent supplement on November 10 (in the Social Studies section on page 12), which dealt with size, population, etc, of the Caribbean islands. In an otherwise fine feature, the tutor unfortunately allowed herself to be drawn into two unnecessary errors in the same short paragraph which, with only very slight research, she could have spared herself the embarrassment of what the facts revealed.

Stating in an educational document as if substantiated by fact, ” It is said that the island of Cuba is the seventh largest island in the world” is not only inaccurate, but it is also a rather reckless approach to imparting information to anyone. Whoever “said” such nonsense must have been either crazy or totally ignorant about world geography, since simple access to the facts would have revealed that there are at least 14 other islands across the world which are larger than Cuba (see table), and almost as many with more people.

The second error actually follows the first in the same paragraph where we are told that Cuba “also has the largest population of all the Caribbean islands”. This is equally ridiculous, considering that by using the tutor’s own figures, the island of Hispaniola (with the combination of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) has a population of over 17 million people, while Cuba has a population of only 11.3 million, or 50 per cent less.

It would have been far more precise, educational and enlightening to the students to have been informed that as an island that is approximately 46 per cent smaller than Cuba, Hispaniola has a population in excess of 5.7 million (or 51 per cent) higher than Cuba. And this has been so for a very long time, because 30 years ago when Cuba had 8.5 million, Hispaniola’s total population stood at 8.8 million, and within this period it has been increased by an incredible 92 per cent, while Cuba’s population moved by just 33 per cent. Indeed, for such a large island with a more level terrain than her smaller neighbour, Cuba’s density at 265 persons per sq mile (102 per sq km) is less than a half of that of Hispaniola. Therefore, it is only as a country (or a territory) that Cuba is the most populous in the Caribbean.

For whatever reason other than being another small neighbour, there is an absurd tendency in Jamaica to blow up out of proportion everything about Cuba. In fact, Cuba is also smaller and less populated than the state of Florida which has an appreciable quantity of both Cubans and Jamaicans among its 18 million inhabitants.

Geography is a subject which underscores the value of correct facts and figures and is not like some other subjects where certain assumptions might be permissible. There is a feeling that social studies have become this ad hoc grouping of subjects like geography, history, civics, etc, and there is a growing tendency to be too casual and too informal about basic facts. This kind of dilution of principal data will only lead to further mediocrity in the educational system which is fast becoming the norm and culture of today’s Jamaica, and indicates why so many students are leaving school uneducated and uninformed. This is untenable.

Troy Caine

trodencorp@yahoo.com