Dear Editor,

The nature of our education system is highly examination-centred. Ideally, parents want the best for their children, but there is often this pressure for them to be placed in the top three spots in their class or to get the As or 100 per cent on tests. This trend continues for every major assessment, such as the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exam, subjects done through the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), and even for undergraduate exams.

There is always a great push for children to be sent to a prestigious traditional high school, such as the ones that topped the 2023 Educate Jamaica High School Performance Index. Many children are left to feel unintelligent or dunce simply because of how we have labelled our schools. But if the brighter students and those from well-off backgrounds continue to be sent to certain schools, the results will forever be the same. This set-up continues to highlight the haves and the have nots.

However, a long-standing issue also contributes to the poor outcomes of our children, that is, the lack of quality investment from stakeholders during their formative years. Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, during his remarks at the 41st Biennial Conference of the Caribbean Union of Teachers held last week in Kingston, highlighted the meagre proportion of the national budget that is allocated to early childhood education. This is inferior to what obtains in other parts of the Caribbean. Dr Clarke, however, pointed out that the bulk of the money goes to higher education.

Undeniably, higher education is expensive and students need as much support as possible to pursue at least a first degree. Successive governments have attempted to make tertiary education as accessible and affordable as possible. In fact, it has become easier to obtain a loan through the Students’ Loan Bureau and more scholarships are now being given, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes. Notwithstanding, if the root — early childhood and primary education — is not adequately financed and resourced, to what extent will we get more students, especially males, pursuing tertiary education?

Yearly, when we analyse PEP and CXC passes, we regurgitate the same information and weaknesses without carefully implementing strategies to plug the loopholes. Literacy and numeracy continue to be a sore point for our people. If this is not addressed meaningfully, we will continue to raise generations of illiterate people. Many of our children suffer with their education because their parents cannot read and write. Several parents lack basic reasoning abilities. We hear them all the time in the communities, at church, and in public transportation.

Tertiary education definitely needs the financial support, but in building a house, if the foundation is not so anchored, the wind and the rain will come and crumble it. The same is true about the education of our children. If the requisite skill set is not developed from early, it poses serious consequences as they move further up the education ladder. For example, a number of university freshmen will have to take a preliminary English course before matriculating to an academic writing one. Despite obtaining a passing grade in English A in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam, many of them are still lacking the expertise to take on advanced academic work.

While we acknowledge these critical issues, we must also examine the types of administrators leading our institutions; some of them are just ineffective. We cannot continue to appoint people solely based on years of tenure or political or religious affiliation. Too many are collecting revised compensation but there is no accountability taking place and they do not command the respect of their staff. It seems many of them use leadership posts to fast-track their way into politics. After all, who wouldn’t give up the American Dream to enter representational politics, given the handsome compensation now earned by the political directorate?

Oneil Madden

maddenoniel@yahoo.com