Annually, Jamaican students, especially those at the elementary level, go through stress, tension, and sometimes trauma when the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results are published.

There are even reports of students who have had suicidal ideation or have committed suicide when they discover that they have not performed to the expectations of their parents or teachers. The pressure point during the school year is very high as they are expected to be super performers as most parents desire that their child goes to a traditional high school, but, alas, the pickings are few. When not selected, these students tend to become demotivated and demoralised

Some schools receive extraordinary appropriations to maintain their status quo while others are stigmatised because of their location and per-capita income.

I must opine that Jamaica, in this post-COVID-19 era, should begin to take a look at how and where children are placed for schooling. Every school should be given an opportunity to excel. When we take all the brilliant children and send them to particular schools and bundle all the others who are rated as second, third, or fourth class into other sub-par schools, we are sending the wrong message. We are playing with the psyche of our children and even allowing some to become paralysed with self-esteem issues.

There should be equity in the education system. All schools should receive the same amount of subvention per child so that the staff can have adequate resources for academic delivery.

I came up under what was called Scholarship Exam, then there was the Common Entrance, then the Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT), followed by the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), and now we have Primary Exit Profile ( PEP). It seems to me the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The question that baffles all well-thinking people is: What is the difference? The education ministry seems to be simply applying Band-Aids to a system that needs radical surgery. The tumour needs excision not placebo for its treatment.

Our adaptation of a British colonial approach to education stymies growth and evolution as that system was designed to enforce a class structure — those who had economic power were catered to differently from those who were economically disadvantaged, even when it was proven that students who were not in the upper echelon of society performed, in some cases, either equally well or better than those at the top of the socio-economic scale.

I believe students should attend the schools in close proximity to their homes. No student should be travelling miles across parishes to go to a school because they did not score a certain maximum. Some students have to pay high fares to get to schools that have bad ratings because the students who are typically placed there are marginalised and stigmatised. Even the teachers feel frustrated, and it shows in their performance.

There is an economic and sociological cost to the hodgepodge way the education system in Jamaica operates. In the days of Edwin Allen we had a new deal in education. These days, however, we seem to be getting a raw deal.

Teen pregnancies, crimes, and truancy could be minimised significantly if students were to attend schools in their communities instead of trekking within and outside of their parishes to receive an education. In the American society this is the model practised, students have to go to schools within their zip codes and school districts. Those who try to evade, when caught, face severe penalties.

What I think we need in Jamaica right now is a system in which students are given equal opportunities regardless of their addresses and socio-economic backgrounds. This could be a great 60th Independence gift to the people of Jamaica, land we love.

blpprob@aol.com