Dear Editor,

Based on the Ministry of Education’s swift response published in the Thursday, May 11, 2017 edition of the

Jamaica Observer, it would appear that National College for Educational Leadership Director Rosemary Campbell-Stephens is being scolded and crucified for simply stating what everyone knows to be the truth.We live in a classist society, the structures of which have been perpetuated by an education system that is still rooted in its colonial past. So when Campbell-Stephens called for the restructuring of Jamaica’s “classist” education system, she was speaking truth to power.One can only suspect that Minister of Education Ruel Reid, in his constant bid to put on blindfolds over the public’s eyes about the true state of the education sector, was not pleased with this shattering of the facade he has created by a relatively newcomer to the leadership ranks within the ministry. The response from his ministry is characteristic of his dictatorial style and seems a move to muzzle Campbell-Stephens without truly entertaining a frank discussion about the valid points she raised. It is a lack of these kinds of discussions at the policy level that has led to the confusion in communication where the ministry, through its corporate communications office, is now distancing itself from the comments of one of its senior officers.Yes, the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP), the National Assessment Programme (NAP), and the Alternative Pathways to Secondary Education (APSE) programme have been attempted as ways of reforming the system, but a visit to Buff Bay High, as opposed to, say, an Ardenne High, will show up grave disparities between these schools. The examples of classism and gross inequity of the education system are abundant, and there is no amount of ‘samfie’ that the corporate communications office of the ministry can be ordered to publicise that will change this. You can’t fool all the people all the time.The classism in the education system will persist if Reid does not focus on a broad-based, post-reform policy agenda aimed at sustaining the reform efforts of the ESTP. Having a narrow focus on the removal of auxiliary fees will not do.Campbell-Stephens was indeed right; all the alphabet soup mix of programmes such as the ESTP, NAP and APSE, introduced by the ministry, have all made tweaks to the education system, but can anyone honestly say that there has been a full-scale reform of education in this country? 

Paulton Frankson

Frank Son of Paul

paulton.frankson@gmail.com