THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE EDUCATION system in Jamaica is beset by maladies of all sorts, at all levels. We need not belabour the problem but for evidence I will list a few.
The lack of a common prescribed curriculum at the basic school level and unregulated 'Church Sister' schools that serve only as holding areas for youngsters.
Poor performance in reading at the lower primary level and the ludicrous attempt at remedial action in the three-week summer programme. The absurdity of the programme is blatantly obvious as it is assumed that students who did not learn to read in four years of schooling will do so in three weeks; albeit in the hot summer, without specialist assessment or new technology. This is however an issue for another time.
Poor performance in the CXC examinations at both the CSEC and CAPE levels. The failure rate that is published paints a dark but optimistic picture when one considers that a large percentage of the cohort eligible to do the exams were prevented. They were either not recommended because of poor performance or are from 'high schools' which do not do the exams. This problem is compounded by expected competition from the region as free movement of people is slated to come on stream by year-end.
The Ministry of Education is the most inefficient and bureaucratically stagnated ministry in the island. That may be my biased opinion but where else do you see desks laden with old discoloured file folders that seem to be the natural habitat for rodents? The ambiance comes directly from the seventeenth century. I wonder if the National Heritage Trust preserved it to show how offices once were.
That point made I now move to the issue at hand. I would like to borrow a quote from my favourite senator: "It is better to be born blind than to have sight but lack vision." I bemoan the fact that in today's educational climate the most pressing issue the minister and her erudite advisors can find to tackle is teachers' out of school actions. Have they ever heard of the JTA's code of ethics, why reinvent the wheel?
I beg you Madam Minister, show some vision, institute meaningful changes in education that will benefit tomorrow's leaders.
I am, etc.,
OPTIMISTIC TEACHER
Portland
Via Go-Jamaica
