Dear Editor,

Jamaica’s high school system is in urgent need of curriculum reform. There are just too many students exiting our high school system without a rounded general education.

What is needed is a general education core curriculum for all high schools.

These core curriculum subjects should be CXC Mathematics, English A , English B, Spanish, Computer Technology, Social Studies, History and Integrated Science .

The average high school learner requires four years of study to completely master the syllabus content of a CXC subject. However most of our high schools do not begin teaching from the CXC syllabus until grade ten. Teaching from the CXC syllabus should begin at grade seven for these core curriculum subjects.

I am aware of several cases where some high schools have experimented with teaching from the CXC syllabus from grade seven and have achieved amazing success.

Students were able to pass the subject at range one while still in grade nine or grade ten.

To implement this general education curriculum for all high schools requires the political will of the government, similar to the political will it took to bar illiterates from entering high school.

We need to adequately educate and train our youth population so that they can take advantage of employment opportunities in the global labour market.

Carryl Harris

Hanover