FOR whatever reason, humans have attributed much meaning to the number three. Whether it be the three musketeers, the Holy Trinity, or the Chiney man who gives a discount if you buy three, there is usually some positive significance in the number three, unless we are talking about Cash Pot.

In Cash Pot, three is death — and that I fear is the result if we don’t get our nation’s big three in order. What are our big three? Education, poverty and crime.

It is almost impossible to mention any one of the big three without mentioning the other two; this is because they are all linked in some way. Generally, the leading cause of crime and violence in any society is poverty. Ignorance and a lack of qualification lead to poverty but poverty can be solved with education and certification. However, specialised education has a cost, a cost that the poverty-stricken simply cannot afford, hence the Supreme Ventures lifestyle where everything is a gamble — your safety, your investments, your livelihood and ultimately your future.

I don’t mean to sound morbid in highlighting death as a result of our inaction, at least not death in its literal sense. When I mention death I mean death of the economy as we incrementally regress to a state of stagnation. If putting it like that sounds worse, that is because it is. If that becomes our reality, we are not living or dying; we are just suffering. The harsh truth is this is already the reality of some of our citizens. An anthropologist needs not look any further than the big three when attempting to uncover the reason for the suffering.

Thankfully, there are bright nations next to us that we can copy from. Developed nations have all identified education as the key to a brighter future. They are developed because they arrived at this conclusion long before we did and have taken strides to secure education for each and every citizen. Many nations have gone as far as to make education tuition free for all. The thinking is, increase taxes to create the budget for fully subsidised education in hopes that educated, employable and employed people will become future contributors to the cause through taxes.

Yes, I am aware that Jamaica is nowhere near to that point, and it would be very wounding to our economy should we employ such a strategy overnight. That being said, it still irks me that many Jamaicans are doomed — and not due to a lack of ambition, they just can’t afford it. Admittedly, our Government has made some effort to subsidise education for many students through grants and path programmes, but if that was enough Sweden would have stopped there, for as long as many can’t afford education we can’t afford to stop there either.

Almost every living Jamaican citizen came into this world hearing that Jamaica is a developing nation. At this rate several generations will find Jamaica under the same status. I am grateful seeing how far we have come — from colony to an independent nation. I am proud of our people and some of the strides we have made but I am far from satisfied. I refuse to linger and lament on accomplishments as this is the inception of complacency. How about we make our ambition as big as our ego?

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “A country’s level of development and its level of income are often seen as synonymous. Many, thus, understand development as poorer countries ‘catching up’ with richer countries. Once the poorer countries catch up they cease to be ‘developing’ and become ‘developed’.” So, in essence, in order for Jamaica to become a developed country we need to become richer.

Jamaica’s greatest resource is her people, human capital. Increasing Jamaica’s greatest resource value is the most effective method of acquiring wealth. How do we increase her resource value? Education. Knowing this, we need to do more when it comes to training, teaching and certifying our people. Failure should never be an option. There are many professions that people can be proficient in, absent passion; teaching is not one of them. Every child can learn and must learn. Until we adopt that mindset our big three will never be in order and developing is the best Jamaica will ever do.

Hugh Graham is Member of Parliament for St Catherine North Western, and CEO of Paramount Trading Company Ltd.