We are pleased that reported plans by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to drop agricultural science (double award), mechanical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering technology, and green engineering, from its offerings to students will not be entertained by the Jamaican Government.

Following fierce outcry from school leaders and others, Minister of Education Ms Fayval Williams told journalists on Wednesday that, “I want to assure Jamaicans that the Ministry of Education and Youth is fully in support of the continuance of these four subjects…”

That’s the case, notwithstanding word that CXC had decided to cut the four subjects because of what’s said to be low registration by students region-wide.

Given its often-repeated commitment to STEM (science, engineering, technology and mathematics) education, the Government’s position was entirely predictable.

Mrs Williams reportedly reaffirmed that Jamaica is moving towards becoming a STEM country with subjects such as the four mentioned being key components.

Said the minister: “At a meeting held with [Jamaican school principals] on May 21, it was unanimously agreed that these subjects should be continued. We will engage further with our principals to hear from them as to the support they will need. We will increase awareness of these subject areas under the STEM and TVET (technical and vocational education and training) agendas, and the value of the subjects to our national development.”

As one letter writer to this newspaper said this week “STEM-related jobs… are not just trends, they are the future of work…”

We note word from Ms Williams that she and other similarly concerned regional education ministers will meet with CXC to address the situation.

Also, on Wednesday, CXC appeared to retreat, saying the release of correspondence was “premature”. It was apparently intended for the leadership of regional education ministries, not schools.

“This situation is regrettable and understandably would have caused anxiety among our key stakeholder groups. In order to address the matter, CXC has scheduled a meeting with the ministers of education and will provide a full update to the public… CXC assures our valued stakeholders that the requisite actions will be taken in the best interest of all,” it said.

Regardless of all that, the question remains as to why CXC would have seriously contemplated discontinuing those four subjects, given their obvious importance to socio-economic development.

Reading between the lines, we are inclined to suspect that this has much to do with soaring costs and limited resources from regional governments.

In that regard, we believe the commitment from Minister Williams that “We will engage further with our principals to hear from them as to the support they will need…” is of critical importance.

It’s no secret that training in technical/vocational subjects requiring use of machinery/tools and hands-on execution, are much more costly than many other subjects.

Nor have we missed the complaint from school principals that increasingly in recent years CXC’s testing of some STEM subjects has been less hands-on, skills and competency-based; and increasingly knowledge-based with decreasing practical application.

It’s very clear that schools, skills training institutions, as well as the CXC need all necessary resources to prepare young people for our rapidly changing world. Regional governments must act accordingly.