Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education Dr Grace McLean said the ministry needs to improve the monitoring of the private education sector and a new policy development is coming soon to address just that.

Under the new policy, Dr McLean said that private schools would be redefined, to include all levels and genres of the system and the concept of lifelong learning.

The aim, she said, is to redefine them in accordance with current trends and practices.

“This redefinition will also enable the Ministry of Education to identify, classify, register and recognise all private institutions offering education services,” she explained, pointing out that the current definition in the Education Act excludes students at the early childhood level and a large number of learners at the post-secondary level.

“The Education Regulations section will have to be changed to reflect the new definition,” she stated.

She pointed out that the ministry is to create a management framework that adequately meets the operational needs of private institutions, in guaranteeing quality assurance, safety and security.

It is proposed, she said, that the new management framework will see the ministry verifying the suitability of proprietors to provide education services, check private schools’ adherence to safety and security guidelines, and monitor their adherence to ministry guidelines on contact hours, curricula and age appropriate instruction.

Meanwhile, Dr McLean said the ministry is fully aware of the importance of private schools in the education system.

However, President of the Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA) Pastor Wesley Boynes insist that the level of respect the schools deserve from the ministry has not been evident.

In a recent response in the Jamaica Observer to the ministry’s decision to discontinue sending Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) students to private school, redirecting a valuable $15 million worth of support back into the public school system, Boynes expressed concern about how the private/independent high schools are seen by some in the education sector, including the ministry.

He gave as an example, the failure of the Ministry of Education to be more accommodating to these schools, including how this latest decision to remove GSAT places from the schools was handled.

“Currently, I think that the ministry’s relationship with the private schools is a very loosely treated relationship. It is a work in progress and much more needs to be done,” Boynes said then.

But, Dr McLean’s appearance at JISA National Teachers’ Conference held last week at the Madge Saunders Conference Centre in Tower Isle, St Mary, may have opened a window of opportunity for an improved relationship between the privately owned institutions and the ministry.

According to the chief education officer, there are over 600 private educational institutions in Jamaica, offering pre-primary through post-secondary education.

She said that, according to the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, there were more than 71,000 students in these institutions.

“Research has shown that private institutions provide a safety net for students, who have not benefited sufficiently from the programmes offered in the public system. They are also populated by students who prefer alternatives to public schools, or those who realise late in life the importance of certification. Private schools also cater to those who are unable to access the public school system, especially at the upper secondary and tertiary levels, largely due to capacity issues and special needs,” McLean told the independent schools’ conference.

“The existence of private school spaces means that families who make an education investment in non-government schools, save the Jamaican taxpayers millions of dollars a year.  It would cost the government approximately $16 billion just to provide the plant now provided by private preparatory and secondary schools,” McLean stated.

 “Then you add annual maintenance costs, tuition costs and staff costs and you get the picture of the added burden the removal of private schools would have on the Jamaican taxpayer,” she explained.

It was a startling admission from the ministry’s chief education personnel, weeks after pulling over $15 million in grant-aid assistance from the sector.

But, McLean didn’t stop there

“We are aware that continuing government support for independent schools is required to maintain the education balance, and promote a robust and diverse system. We must agree that private institutions in Jamaica contribute significantly to the quality and accessibility of education,” she added.

Boynes responded by thanking the ministry for partnering with JISA in staging the conference, noting that executives of the ministry would be participating in the professional development workshops.

“I personally believe that the private schools in Jamaica are positioned to be excellent partners in the education sector, when it comes to working with the ministry to accomplish many of the objectives set by the minister and his team,” he said.

“I therefore believe that, in light of the social challenges, this is a perfect time and season for the ministry to build a partnership with the private school and not to dismantle our relationship and create distance. Let’s continue to build a partnership,” he insisted.

He noted that the “bigger picture” was for a government, led by the prime minister, “to consider the national vision, and determine if the private educators can play a part in realising the vision.

“And, if so, then let’s sit down; engage us in a serious and constructive manner, treat us as valuable partners in the process and let’s move forward,” he said.

Boynes said that the ministry could begin the realignment by addressing the issue of its “poorly staffed” independent schools unit in its building, and stop treating private schools, generally, like “distant second cousins”.

He also recalled that the performance of the private schools was totally ignored by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites in his 2014-2015 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives.

“These situations indicate to you the nature of the cultural norms which we are dealing with, and it transmits the message that private schools are not taken seriously, or are not considered in the strategic plans, whenever the shakers and movers of the education system sit down to plan. I am very concerned about this,” he said.