JAMAICANS are back to that time of year when “free paper bun”. Thousands of children and their teachers return to school today after the long summer break — some eager and some merely resigned to the inescapable task of education.

A special thought is in order for the very young ones entering a strange new world for the very first time. As always, the challenges are many. There will be overcrowding at some schools, while not far away, there’s another with embarrassingly few students.

We suspect there will be schools with an inadequacy of furniture and other necessities, etc. And, of course, hard times mean many parents will be sending their children to school without being able to meet book requirements or provide adequate lunch and transportation money.

Yet, this newspaper believes there has been significant progress in education down the years. It’s true that, with better planning and implementation, education today would be in a better place.

However, one cannot ignore Education Minister Ronald Thwaites’ boast that 97 per cent of grade seven students are now entering fiveyear high schools, compared to 10 per cent in 1962, the year of Independence. Back in the days when the education minister and others of his age group were children, high school education was largely restricted to the economically and socially privileged.

Today, Jamaicans accept, without giving it a second thought, that education — from early childhood to high school — is accessible to their children regardless of wealth, class, colour, or creed.

True, some schools are better resourced than others, but it will take time for such inequities to be resolved. We are convinced, however, that all stakeholders are attuned to the need to achieve that end.

Further to that, the move in St Thomas for high schools to share resources should be embraced by all. Also, we are happy that the infernal shift system in high schools is gradually — even if too slowly — being put away. All Jamaicans should yearn for the day when all schools will be considered equal or nearequal in the eyes of parents, teachers and students.

This newspaper recognises that the early childhood level has been neglected compared to other age groups. The problem has to be addressed going forward. But Rome was not built in a day.

Finally, Jamaicans should remember that all adults have a responsibility not just to take care of their children, but, within reason, all children. That’s why the repeated calls for partnership in education should be heeded. But such calls shouldn’t be meant only for private sector companies, volunteer organisations, the church, and so on.

They must also apply to individuals. It is not good enough for people to simply shake their heads in dismay on realising that the child next door is not going to school. It is the responsibility of all of us to do whatever is necessary to make sure that the child next door gets a proper education.

If all Jamaicans were to start doing that, they would have taken a giant step towards resolving some of this country’s more pressing problems.