KINGSTON, Jamaica — While thousands of students are preregistered for the Sixth-Form Pathways Programme, set to kick off at high schools and select community and teachers’ colleges in the new academic year, many institutions are not ready for the initiative due to a lack of resources exacerbated by the recent mass exodus of teachers.

President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), LaSonja Harrison told OBSERVER ONLINE that educational institutions have struggled with preparations for students who want to take part in the programme.

“So this policy directive comes about and there is not much consultation with said principals who will be expected to execute this policy directive and so we find that the physical spacing remains a chronic issue. That issue of retaining two cohorts, because some of these very schools are already overcrowded; so where do we put these additional people?” Harrison questioned.

READ: No cheers from teachers for Sixth-Form Pathways Programme

“Coupled with the fact that we have a pending teacher shortage which could affect retaining the necessary skills and competencies to carry out some of these programmes – especially to facilitate those students on pathways two and three, as we already have a deficit in terms of available teachers for the technical and vocational areas – there is going to be some kind of challenge,” she added.

The programme is broken down into three ‘pathways’. Students who are pursuing the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) are in ‘Pathway One. Those who will participate in technical and vocational courses are in ‘Pathway Two’. ‘Pathway Three’ facilitates students who do not have passes in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and will be able to re-sit subjects or acquire certificates.

Harrison argued, as well, that there is a disparity in the funds that will be provided to high schools and community and teachers’ colleges to facilitate the students in the programme. She said that while high schools will be receiving $17,000 per student, the colleges will be receiving $60,000 per student.

“When I asked [a principal] about the funding, I was told that it was the same $17,000 that is paid per child in their secondary [stage of schooling] – that is grade seven to nine, it is the same $17,000 that will be afforded the schools to assist with this new sixth form initiative, and if anybody does an audit on the market what it costs to offer a sixth form programme in the traditional sense, you know $17,000 is nowhere there,” Harrison explained.

“The community colleges or teachers colleges that will be assisting in the programme – because spaces are not available in some of the schools, the ministry has made provision that a nearby teachers’ college or community college would assimilate some of the students – those colleges will be receiving $60,000 per child. So the high school principals are saying, ‘I am not understanding why are you giving us $17,000 and then you are giving the community colleges or the teachers’ colleges a different amount of money to facilitate the very same programme?’,” the JTA president said.

Harrison said that while this initiative is good and necessary, the lack of conversation with those who will have to implement it and the lack of funding and space remain huge issues even with the impending start of the new school year.

“The schools that already have a traditional sixth form, they will definitely be going ahead with that, but where they did not have a technical/vocational area to facilitate those on pathways two and three, they are going to be having their own set of challenges, and likewise those who have the technical vocation, they may just be able transition over to the traditional academia sixth form but again the physical spacing remains a problem,” Harrison explained.

The JTA president pointed out that teachers are raising these concerns, not to be resistant to the new programme, but to highlight the issues the schools and their administrators will face if certain resources are not made available, as they are the ones who are experiencing the challenges first hand.

“Please note that our airing of concerns as it relates to the rollout of the initiative is not indicative of our concluding that the concept is bad. Our position as educators on the ground is that not enough consultation was done with us to ascertain our readiness to implement same. It needs further dialogue as we all agree some mechanism must be employed to save our children post-secondary school,” Harrison said.

She added that the JTA is anticipating “the kind of dialogue needed to highlight some of the issues and the realities that are on the ground even as we seek to carve out the best response as we seek to facilitate the same.”

Speaking at the JTA’s annual conference last week, Education Minister Fayval Williams revealed that more than 17,000 students have pre-registered for the programme.