THE National Education Inspectorate (NEI), in its latest assessment of performance standards at the country’s public schools, has indicated that the state of affairs at many primary and secondary schools leaves much to be desired.

While not publishing its own summary of the situation, the NEI last weekend posted on the education ministry’s website, the individual reports on more than 130 schools inspected last year. According to the NEI, each inspection focused on eight key indicators of school effectiveness; leadership and management, teaching and learning, students’ performance in regional and national examinations, students’ progress, personal and social development, human and material resources, safety and security and well-being.

A look at the reports relating to the 31 high schools on the list revealed that one institution — the St Ann-based Marcus Garvey High — has been classified as a failing school, while the Kingstonbased, Wolmer’s High School for Girls has been rated as exceptionally high, in terms of overall effectiveness. Of the other high schools, 12 have been rated as unsatisfactory, nine as good and eight satisfactory.

The NEI said its inspectors made judgements based on a five-point scale, where a level five denotes an exceptional school and level one represents the ranking for failing schools. The inspectorate said all schools should strive to achieve no less than a ‘good’ rating.

The 12 high schools where the overall effectiveness has been deemed unsatisfactory are Albert Town High, Clan Carthy High, Trench Town High, Vere Technical High, Ferncourt High, Godfrey Stewart High, Green Pond High, Kingston High, Knockalva Technical High, Mavis Bank High, Mile Gully High and Seaforth High.

Those rated as satisfactory are Port Antonio High, Porus High, St Andrew Technical High, St Mary Technical High, Haile Selassie High, Kingston College, McGrath High and William Knibb Memorial High.

Troy High School, Titchfield High, Westwood High, Wolmer’s Boys, Holy Childhood High, Immaculate Conception High, Jamaica College, and Meadowbrook High have been rated as good.

In its overview of activities at the Trelawny-based Albert Town High, the NEI described teaching methods, as well as teachers’ understanding of how students learn as unsatisfactory. “Many lessons are dull and do not cater to the learning styles and ability levels of students,” said a section of the report which also pointed out that Albert Town High has not ensured satisfactory progress in English and mathematics over a period of time.

In its assessment of the Kingstonbased Clan Carthy High School, the NEI said most teachers have a sound knowledge of the subjects they teach, but some do not display satisfactory understanding of how best to teach, and are not sufficiently knowledgeable of the learning styles and ability levels of the students. “The school, though, has recorded improvements in the number of students passing five subjects and more, including mathematics and English, but performance continues to fall below national averages,” the report added.

For the St Ann-based Ferncourt High, the leadership and management of the institution were described as unsatisfactory. Progress in English and mathematics was also rated unsatisfactory.

At the Godfrey Stewart High School in Westmoreland, the report described the quality of teaching, as well as teachers’ subject knowledge as satisfactory. However, teaching methods were described as unsatisfactory, so too was progress in mathematics. Progress in English was, however, dubbed satisfactory.

The Kingston-based Haile Selassie High School received a favourable assessment in terms of overall effectiveness. “Teaching and learning is satisfactory and most teachers have satisfactory knowledge of the subjects they teach,” the report stated. However, the report pointed out that many students at the school perform poorly in English and mathematics, when compared with other schools.

Among the schools classified as good is the Holy Childhood High School. “Teaching and learning are good. Most teachers at the school plan their lessons well and use a variety of teaching methods to make their classes interesting,” the report stated.

Another school where the overall effectiveness was said to be good is Immaculate Conception High School. “Leadership and management of the school is good as well as the quality of teaching provided by the school. Students perform significantly above the national averages and pass rates are in the 90s,” the report stated. However, in its inspection of the school, the NEI said it identified instances of “teachercentred lessons, where teachers spent too much time talking to or reading to students from textbooks”.

In its assessment of Jamaica College, the NEI said: “Leadership and management at the institution are exceptionally high and teaching is satisfactory and supports students’ learning.”

However, like Immaculate and a few other high schools, the inspectors pointed out that very little effort is made by teachers to cater differently to high performing as well as, below average students.

For Marcus Garvey High, the inspectorate painted a dismal picture. “Leadership and management are failing… and most of the school staff is very disgruntled with the management style and characteristics. Teaching and learning overall is unsatisfactory and most teachers reflect minimally on their teaching, so in most cases, lesson delivery lacks depth and fails to stimulate active interest,” said the NEI report.

Based on the NEI’s assessment, standards at the Wolmer’s High School for Girls are exceptionally high. The report made note of the effectiveness of the leadership and management, teaching, as well as students’ performance in national and regional tests. According to the NEI, 96 per cent of students at Wolmers Girls pass at least five subjects, including mathematics and English in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate examinations at the end of fifth form.