I am one of many students across the island who were recent candidates in the sitting of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) held June to July of this year.

Fortunately, I can report that I was successful in these external exams, securing four grade ones with straight A profiles.

Undoubtedly, the previous academic year posed quite a number of challenges in preparing for the highly anticipated and demanding Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) assessments, but thankfully I survived. And, to the many students across Jamaica who participated in the external examinations process, I wish hearty congratulations for your well-deserved passes at both the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and CAPE levels.

On the other hand, many students islandwide may not have shared the same experience as overall performance in crucial subject areas, such as mathematics, saw drastic declines in comparison to previous years.

Obviously, this is not the news we wish to hear, but the CXC results have simply revealed how a year of online school can possibly affect the educational success of our youth.

Surely we have seen the records which prove that online-based learning over a long-term period does not produce the best outcomes. Performance reveals that some subjects aren’t covered and taught effectively online, while some subject areas performed at the standard level and above. In other words, online school causes an imbalance among different areas of study since all courses must be conducted online regardless of whether they have a practical or technical component, resulting in some areas being covered adequately, while others lag.

Traditional schooling is challenging enough and transporting that same system to an online medium makes it worse because this modality comes with its own learning barriers. Just to clarify, there is nothing inherently negative about online interaction, especially since teenagers show a great appreciation for the utility of digital platforms; instead, the message is that learning is more effective in a physical space.

Growing up I was swayed to believe that “learning is fun”, but now I am tempted to think the opposite. Truthfully, I do enjoy learning when I am actually learning, but that has seldom occurred during this COVID-19 period, and this is the problem we face in school. So, although engaging in the online space is enjoyable to many for various reasons, schooling definitely proves to not be one of them.

In August the Ministry of Education announced its plan to make sixth form mandatory for all high school students next year, thereby ensuring that students stay in school until, at least, age 18.

I believe there are many reasons this decision is needful, but I also recognise the potential issues and alternatives that can be cause for debate.

Should sixth form be made compulsory? Objections to this decision would involve the expenses to be incurred by parents and students, the facilitation of this programme within secondary institutions, as well as the measures that would be implemented for students if they fail to matriculate. Although pertinent questions and concerns can be voiced on this matter, there are good initiatives that the Government can and have effectuated to resolve them, one of which is the Sixth Form Pathway Programme, for example.

Despite this, I hold the view that sixth form is essential for the proper preparation of teenagers transitioning to tertiary education or the world of work. As a country, it is crucial to ensure that the younger generation is primed and well-suited to meet the requirements and standards of higher education and advanced learning.

We know the working world is very competitive, and university is certainly not for the weak. This therefore means that schools and students need to exert more effort in building a solid foundation and assuring their readiness. Students need to be mature, well-informed, disciplined, and academically inclined before entering colleges and universities, thereby making sixth form very relevant. In addition, sixth form is a useful time for young people to discover or rediscover their passions and career aspirations and link them to their competencies.

It is said that the mission of school is to create well-rounded and efficient students of society while ensuring they perform at their maximum potential. If this is really so and we have students starting universities underprepared, then schools have missed the target and there needs to be a serious restructuring of our education system.

Universities demand students to be proficient in the requisite skills for their course of studies, which oftentimes is not the case. People who are not ready for tertiary studies will get lost, unnecessarily stressed, and fall dangerously close to failure or even fail – it does happen from time to time.

Life is already hard, so we do not need to make it unnecessarily harder.

We live in a world that is evolving and developing rapidly, which, consequently, will force employers to start looking for more qualified and competent workers rather than the average worker. Hence, it is incumbent on us as a nation to focus on the development of our youth to enable them to perform at standards that will make them competitive and, as such, give them a fighting chance of, at least, making something positive of their lives.

The future of our country is always on the line but, as we already know, a great way of securing it includes investing in the youth of today so that they may be poised to function optimally in the future governing of Jamaica.

Aside from the matters raised, I commend the Government on its decision to resume face-to-face classes for several schools across Jamaica. This is a good move on the part of the Education Minister Fayval Williams designed to ensure that the quality of education improves and bring disengaged students back onboard.

Roberto Morgan is the head boy of St Jago High School. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or robertomorgan13@gmail.com.