OPPOSITION spokesman on education Damion Crawford says he has taken legal action against the State over what he argues is Jamaica’s failure to guarantee children their constitutional right to publicly funded education.

He also accused the Government of presiding over an underfunded and unequal early childhood system that is leaving thousands of children behind before they even enter primary school.

Speaking during his contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Crawford revealed that he filed a constitutional challenge on April 7, seeking the court’s interpretation of whether the Government is meeting its obligations under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

“Section 13(K)(2) of the constitution, The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedom, indicate that it is the right of every child who’s a citizen of Jamaica to publicly funded tuition in a public education institution at the pre-primary and primary levels. Madam Speaker, that has not been assessed, and therefore when the minister of education answered in the standing finance committee that she believed that this was actually being implemented it left me with no further action to take than to seek the court’s intervention to determine if this right has been satisfied,” Crawford said.

Throughout his presentation Crawford repeatedly stressed that weaknesses in early childhood education were driving many of the wider problems across Jamaica’s education system. Pointing to data from the Early Childhood Commission and international studies, he said just 54 per cent of assessed four-year-olds were deemed developmentally prepared for school.

He further claimed that Jamaica spends just 0.24 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on early childhood education — well below the roughly one per cent international benchmark.

Crawford also accused the Government of minimising the scale of staffing problems within the sector.

“Madam Speaker, the minister of education has sought to paint over these cracks and indicated that only 108 early childhood institutions did not have a degree-trained teacher. One access to the census done by the early childhood institute indicated that only 1518 institutions had a trained teacher. To this extent, over 800 institutions are not known to have a trained teacher, and 658 are sure not to have a trained teacher. One wonders therefore where did we get that information of 108,” he said.

Crawford also questioned statements made about government spending on the sector, suggesting that figures presented publicly did not align with allocations outlined in the national budget.

“Additionally, the permanent secretary from the Ministry of Education indicated that they were investing $38 billion in early childhood education when the budget before us indicated only $8.5 billion. So one must wonder where they’re getting this information,” he told the House.

The Opposition spokesman argued that the shortcomings within the sector amount to more than administrative or policy failures, insisting that they represent a constitutional issue affecting thousands of Jamaican children.

“The system failure is that underfunding is a breach of the constitutional right. Limited State provision of only 15 per cent of the institution is a breach of the constitutional right.”

Crawford maintained that inadequate investment in early childhood education is having long-term consequences for the country’s social and economic development, arguing that children who fall behind at the earliest stages of learning often continue to struggle throughout the system.

He further argued that stronger investment in early childhood education could significantly improve future outcomes for children and the wider economy.