On November 2, the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY) launched its Transformation of Education for National Development (Trend) campaign at the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium at Jamaica College. This launch came about as a result of the recommendations made in the The Reform of Education in Jamaica, 2021 report, prepared by the Professor Orlando Patterson-led Jamaica Education Transformation Commission.

Whilst the objective of Trend is not immediately clear, it appears to be an attempt to sensitise Jamaicans about the move to transform the Jamaican education system and is centred around seven key pillars for transformation. Of note is that the Trend public relations (PR) campaign will cost taxpayers more than $30 million.

Absence of Cabinet Ministers

The MOEY certainly needs to be commended for its efforts to finally get the conversation going about the need to transform our education system. It was, therefore, most unfortunate that the Minister of Education Fayval Williams had to leave the launch prematurely to attend to more pressing matters. But even more unfortunate was the noted absence of key Cabinet and government officials, particularly Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke.

Based on documents coming out of the Mona School of Business, the transformation of our education system will cost $280 billion over 20 years and some $166 billion in the first seven years of the programme. This means that the Government will have to find at least an extra $23 billion annually. Let’s bear in mind that these figures do not factor in inflation in the years to come.

The sheer cost of this programme means that it will be the single-biggest project ever to be undertaken by any Administration in the history of this country. Therefore, the prime minister, finance minister, and minister of education should have been present to face tough questions, such as: Of the more than 300 recommendations, which ones will the Government undertake and why? What are the considerations that are on the table to fund this programme? Are there any other recommendations, apart from those contained in the Patterson report, that will be included in the transformation of the education programme?

I note with interest that Barbados is also undergoing an overall of its education system. It is no less a person than Prime Minister Mia Mottley herself who is leading the charge.

Change Model

The MOEY has now employed an organisational change officer to help drive Trend. Given the MOEY’s poor track record for successful and sustainable implementation of programmes, this was certainly a step in the right direction, as the leadership of the MOEY has come to terms with the fact that it doesn’t necessarily possess the requisite skill sets to bring the programme to fruition.

It will certainly need all the help it can get. It would be interesting to know what change model will be utilised, as this should form the road map for Trend.

John Kotter, for example, has advocated an eight-step process to achieve sustainable organisational change. The first four are increasing urgency, building a guiding team, developing the vision, and communicating for buy-in. Whilst there are other change models, they all essentially advocate the same steps. It’s important to note that one cannot cut corners, circumvent, or merge any of these steps.

I am, therefore, at a loss as to how a PR campaign has been developed for Trend when key stakeholders, such as teachers and principals, have not yet been engaged to create a sense of urgency. The Patterson report required a no-holes-barred conversation with teachers, principals, and teacher training institutions, region by region, even if it means closing the schools in each region for a day, then going into the universities and teacher training institutions for another round of conversations. During that process, you nurture your guiding teams on the ground, then you move on to the next step.

By circumventing these processes, as happened with the launch of Trend, you run the risk of the programme being stalled before it has even begun. PR by itself will not sustain the programme.

Philosophy of Education

A key component of the discourse that must be had with teachers is the philosophy of education. One of the recommendations of the Patterson report is the need for Jamaica to determine and articulate a philosophy of education that will guide the system. The report went as far as stating that Jamaica has “flirted” with constructivism.

The importance of the philosophy of education cannot be overemphasised. It guides the conceptualisation, development, implementation, and assessment of a curriculum. Yet instead of pursuing a route of discourse and debate, the MOEY came up with this so-called “philosophy of education” that does not fit into any of the known or established philosophies of education whatsoever. At best it is a mission statement, but most certainly not a philosophy of education.

Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC)

One of the already-implemented key recommendations of the Patterson report is the establishment of the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC). This committee is currently chaired by Dr Adian Stokes. An economist by profession, Dr Stokes is certainly one of the brightest minds that this country has to offer. He is very astute and will call a spade a spade. His sojourn through the education system to where he currently is in life has earned him the right to be interviewed on the Television Jamaica (TVJ) programme Profile.

I do, however, hope that joint press conferences between ETOC and the MOEY will not be a regular feature of ETOC’s reporting arrangements, as this runs the risk of undermining its credibility in the public space and may just be seen as rubber-stamping the utterances of the MOEY.

ETOC should be reporting independently of the MOEY in much the same way that the Economic Programme Oversight Committee had been reporting on the economic transformation programme. This is against the background that the MOEY’s credibility has taken a beating in recent times.

Teachers’ Salaries

The Patterson report highlighted the fact that one of the pathways to the transformation of the education system is improving prestige and properly incentivising the teaching profession. The Government missed a glorious opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the transformation of education in this regard in the last compensation package in keeping with the Ernst and Young report that they had commissioned and the 2021 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report on the funding of education.

The high levels of teacher migration will inevitably undermine Trend as the Government’s response to the migration issue is absent of a long-term strategy or solution.

Furthermore, we selectively reference the “Finland Education Model” without acknowledging that Finland pays their teachers a very competitive salary. The salary and treatment of our teachers have caused many of them to migrate to ply their trade in other countries.

There is no democratic country that has a world-class education system that does not pay its teachers a salary that will attract the best and brightest minds that this country has to offer. In fact, it is a prerequisite for the transformation of education.

Early Childhood

One of the seven pillars of change for Trend is early childhood. The Patterson report recommended the overhaul the Early Childhood Commission. However, to my mind, the report did not go far enough in its recommendations.

Currently, only about 20 per cent of early childhood centres are Government owned. The early childhood education sector is too important a sector to be left in the hands of private entities that are primarily driven by profit. I know of no other world-class education system that has a similar arrangement in their early childhood sector.

The Government needs to, therefore, take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that they become the major players in the sector. If we fail to do this then Trend will never be realised.

Parents

The Jamaica Teachers’ Association President Leighton Johnson is on record stating that the Patterson report did not adequately treat the issue of parents and the role they will be called up to play in Trend. This is no doubt a valid point as this should have also been one of the key pillars of Trend.

Research has definitively confirmed that children with parents who are actively involved in their schooling tend to perform academically better. There needs to, therefore, be a clear-cut plan as to how we get parents involved in the lives of their children, and this may very well involve amendments to or enactments of legislation.

Recommendations

If the MOEY is serious about getting by, then they should take the necessary steps to engage with teachers and principals about Trend in a systematic and meaningful way. They must also articulate and prioritise the recommendations they will accept and identify the ones they have rejected.

The prime minister and the minister of finance need to also tell the country what proposals they are considering to ensure that Trend is properly funded and sustained. We cannot afford to get it wrong; therefore, we must not cut corners in the process.

We have to move beyond the hype surrounding the PR and get to the substance of where the tire meets the road, or we run the risk of the Patterson report suffering the same fate as the Dr Rae Davis report.

Mark Malabver is the principal of Yallahs High School and a PhD candidate at University of Technology, Jamaica. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or markmalabver@yahoo.com.