KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s leading child advocacy organisation Hear The Children’s Cry has come out in strong support of Opposition Senator Damion Crawford’s call for the creation of a fund similar to the National Housing Trust to help low-income families finance tertiary education.

However, while Crawford’s call was specific to deregistered youth from universities, the advocacy organisation is recommending a broader approach, which includes “bright but poor high school graduates, who never get to register in the first place at a tertiary institution”.

Betty Ann Blaine, founder of Hear The Children’s Cry said her organisation has had a concern over a long period of time about the significant number of Jamaican children who perform exceptionally well in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations but are unable to pursue tertiary studies due to financial difficulties.

“Although there is the Student Loan Bureau (SBL), many of the children of the poor and working classes cannot benefit from SLB because the loan requires guarantors and many just don’t have persons they can call on who can do that,” Blaine contended.

“Guarantors must be employed. Our country already has an unequal education system from the primary to secondary levels. That is, children of the poor and working classes, with the exception of a minority, just do not have access to the “traditional” high schools which are better funded, supported by wealthier communities and alumni, and less vulnerable to crime and violence because of their location in many cases,” she continued.

Blaine, a former university lecturer and lifelong child advocate, said she shares the perspective of Crawford, whose concern has been heightened by his observations during his second career as a seasoned university lecturer.

“We should not continue to allow these educational inequalities to extend” she stressed.

“The sad fact is, many of our promising young people who would have gone on to college or university if funds were available, give up hope and fall by the wayside. Some of our young men turn to criminality instead. This proposal has implications for a reduction in crime and violence, especially for those young men of promise who lose hope and get involved in criminality.

“Hear The Children’s Cry is calling for bi-partisan support for this idea of establishing a fund for bringing the life-changing opportunity of tertiary education within reach of youth from low-income families. We are calling on the Government to pull together a team, including leaders from the private sector, to examine this proposal,” reasoned the children’s advocate.