Recently, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) LaSonja Harrison sought to dismiss the slightest thought that the Jamaican education system has failed. According to a news report from Nationwide News Network, the president noted that, despite certain pitfalls and a lack of resources, it would be unfair to label the system a failure when assessed objectively.

In a more recent submission, she cited, for example, inadequate funding at the early childhood level and noted that most of the basic schools are privatised and many lack the funding to meet the requirements to become officially registered institutions.

In the same vein, the matter of compensation of early childhood teachers was also raised as several of them continue to earn a meagre stipend even though there have been improvements in their qualifications.

It was good to hear the president refer to the Orlando Patterson task force report on education because since its publication there have been no serious national conversation on its findings and recommendations, despite repeated calls from columnists, journalists, and other stakeholders.

Despite the revelations made by President Harrison, many people have expressed their disagreement with her position on two primary areas: the education sector gets sufficient budget and the system has woefully failed.

It is factual that a good portion of the national budget is allocated to education, and Jamaica is ranked internationally for the percentage amount it allocates to the education sector. In a 2021 column I wrote entitled ‘Education sector: Great investments but insignificant returns’, I said, among other things, “Successive governments, in sectoral debates, have presented flashy budgets for the education sector to the tune of applause and loud bench-banging, but have we reaped the rewards of the billions invested in education?”

Indisputably, though the budget has increased progressively, there is still a huge gap to fill in terms of infrastructure, pedagogical resources, inclusion, and policies.

One of the most evident failures that is often mentioned is the fact that many students go through the education system but cannot read and write, while others have significant comprehension problems. We detect the learning challenges from early and we see the poor performance, yet we allow them to sojourn through the education system without any meaningful value.

Later, the same education system places the bright ones in enviable traditional high schools, while the slow ones are sent to the “back a di class, no have no subject” high schools. What’s worse is that the same system then inspects the schools and categorises the non-performing ones as failing schools. Ironically, the same system sets up the students and schools to fail.

Additionally, teachers have long lamented the oversized classes, even up to 50 students (mainly at the secondary level), without any teaching assistants. With the varied learning styles and multiple intelligences that exist in such an overcrowded space, to what extent would a teacher be able to meet most of the students’ needs?

What about students with special needs? I attended a special needs conference at Church Teachers’ College earlier this year in which I learnt that there are very few schools in Jamaica that cater to students with certain disabilities. In addition, specialists and resources are very scarce that it takes a long while for students to be diagnosed and later placed in a special school.

There are other factors that affect teaching and learning, such as nutrition and mental and emotional well-being. Moreover, parenting plays an important role. It is very easy to blame the teachers, we are used to that by now, but we must acknowledge that we also have several illiterate parents who are having children. It means, therefore, that they are incapable of helping the teachers to lay and reinforce the necessary foundation for progress. Furthermore, many of them are absent when it is time to sit with their children to assist them to complete their homework. Parents need to understand that parenting extends beyond mere procreating and feeding their children.

My mother, though, being a bright girl in her early days, did not get an opportunity to continue her education after age 15. Notwithstanding, she always sat with us (her children) and helped with our homework. Importantly, whenever she did not understand, she stayed with us until we figured it out. Today, she is beyond proud to see how far a journey we have come. The point is: Parental support is very critical in the learning process.

All things said, the system has produced some very competent people who have excelled in their respective fields; therefore, the system has not failed. But aren’t they the minority? Has it then failed the majority?

Oneil Madden is interim chair/head of Department of Humanities and lecturer in language(s) and linguistics at Northern Caribbean University. He is also a PhD candidate in applied linguistics at Clermont Auvergne University, France. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or maddenoniel@yahoo.com.