IN Jamaica, we talk often about education reform, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) advancement, and preparing the next generation for a modern workforce. Yet beneath the speeches, the policies, and the curriculum updates lies a growing crisis many prefer not to confront: our children are falling dangerously behind in literacy, and the consequences are shaping their futures long before high school.

For several years I have worked inside a literacy intervention programme that supports more than 200 primary school students annually. These children, bright, curious, eager, enter reading anywhere from zero to four grade levels below where they should be. Many struggle to recognise basic words, follow simple passages, or retain information long enough to make meaningful gains in the regular classroom. What we are facing is not a small gap; it is a widening fault line that demands urgent national attention.

The roots of this crisis are deep and complex. COVID-19 disrupted the foundational early learning years for thousands of children. Parents, often stretched by financial reality, cannot access private assessments or specialised intervention. Teachers, despite their efforts, remain constrained by a national curriculum that has not been meaningfully updated since 2010 long before digital-native children changed how learning occurs. We are, in essence, teaching 2025 learners with 2010 tools.

That is why partnerships matter; real partnerships that bring resources and hope into the communities where they are needed most.

One of the most impactful examples of this is the D&G Foundation’s partnership with our literacy programme in Seaview Gardens, a community where many children and adults have been historically underserved by the education system. Through this collaboration, literacy support has expanded beyond classrooms and into the heart of the community itself. Adults who slipped through the cracks decades ago now sit beside their children, learning to decode words, write sentences, and build confidence in ways they once believed were out of reach.

This intergenerational approach is changing lives. A father who once depended on others to fill out forms now reads with his daughter. A grandmother who left school at nine can now break down consonant blends. Literacy is no longer a children’s issue, it is a family transformation issue.

The system we use in the programme reflects this reality. It is multi-sensory, differentiated, and diagnostic, designed to meet learners exactly where they are. Students rotate through small-group stations, auditory drills, tactile letter blending, visual story mapping, phonics-based decoding, comprehension scaffolding, and structured vocabulary building. It is dynamic, flexible, evidence-based, and, most importantly, proven to work.

I often think of a boy who entered the programme carrying a heavy emotional and academic burden instability at home, a history of being written off, and a quiet understanding that he was “behind”. Through consistent small-group intervention, after-school support, and unconditional encouragement, he improved five reading levels in one year. His smile on graduation day told a bigger story than any test score. That is the power of literacy: it restores self-belief.

When a child learns to read confidently, they are far more likely to remain in school, pursue vocational or technical subjects, and position themselves for the very careers Jamaica needs. Literacy fuels workforce development, strengthens communities, and lifts families out of cycles of frustration and dependency. It is both an educational imperative and an economic strategy.

But we must stop pretending that incremental changes will fix a structural crisis. Jamaica needs differentiated testing, accessible assessments, updated curricula, and properly resourced literacy rooms across the island. We need to scale programmes like the one in Seaview Gardens, where the D&G Foundation’s investment has proven that transformation is possible when corporate citizenship meets community needs.

Our children, and many of our adults, are not the problem. They are the evidence that Jamaica must evolve its learning ecosystem if we want a competitive, equitable future. Literacy is not simply about reading; it is about survival, opportunity, and dignity. It gives every person, young or old, the chance to understand the world around them — and the power to shape it.

Christine Bailey-Lennon is a literacy specialist at Seaview Gardens Primary

Seaview Gardens Primary literacy specialist Christine Bailey-Lennon .