We are approaching the end of another semester at the tertiary level and students are expected to do course evaluations. However, I often wonder: To what extent do colleges and universities and, by extension, lecturers value the feedback they receive from their students?

As a practice, I ensure that throughout the semester I pause to ask my students how they are progressing. I ask them if my methods and strategies are reaching them and how things could be improved. I am very deliberate about this because higher education in Jamaica is costly and I believe that it is my responsibility to give my students value for their money.

In addition, my duty as an educator is to ensure that my students grasp the concepts taught and are able to make the necessary applications. Furthermore, my approach to teaching and learning is not only inspired by the many teachers who have impacted my life positively but also the ones who have robbed me of a valuable education.

I recall some lecturers I had in both my undergraduate and master’s programmes who were hardly prepared for class, frequently absent, or those who just did not understand the course content. Numerous complaints were made to respective heads of department but hardly anything changed.

On Wednesday I received a random voice message from one of my sisters who is pursuing a degree in early childhood education from a particular Kingston-based teachers’ college. “You have to write something about [X college]. [X college] nah gwaan good. We have lecturers who don’t have a clue what they are doing. We have lecturers repeating themselves. We have lecturers who aren’t listening to students. We have lecturers who are telling us that we are dunce… [X college] affi go dung.”

She continued, “Right now I am in science class. From I’ve arrived at science class, a pure videos mi a watch, like mi nave nuh YouTube. I am not learning anything. The man [lecturer] doesn’t even know what he is saying.”

This was another of the many occasions on which she has complained about the institution. Earlier in the semester, she told me that weeks into the semester some lecturers were absent from classes and even the administration was unaware of their whereabouts.

I have had several students from various institutions who have complained about similar issues. They have become weary of completing course evaluations because absolutely nothing is done by academic leaders. There is no accountability.

Too many students have to make serious sacrifices to finance their education for them to show up to classes and not get value for their hard-earned money or be respected by their lecturers.

Unions often blame the Government for lack of adequate compensation and resources, among other things, which is quite justified. However, they should equally call out lazy and underperforming colleagues.

Oneil Madden is a lecturer in languages at Northern Caribbean University and a PhD candidate in didactics and linguistics at Clermont Auvergne University, France. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or maddenoniel@yahoo.com.