By Glenda Simms, Contributor
Glenda Simms
THE CURRENT debate around the difficult issues that confront the Jamaican education system should inspire all of us to think about the kind of society that we want to live in. As individuals we need to ensure the changes in ourselves that we would like to see in other people and in our communities.
In this sense we need to clearly identify a set of values that will guide our actions in all circumstances. If, for instance, we want people to be loving, we must also make sure that we love people. Also, those of us who want to lead or who in fact, lead, at any level, must have confidence in ourselves to give exemplary service to others. This in turn will encourage those who observe our behaviours to have confidence in themselves.
In the social, political and economic realities of the Jamaican society, each of us must daily deal with the discrepancies between 'what is' and 'what should be'. For instance, we can give a litany of examples and point to large numbers of individuals across the broad social spectrum, who are energetic, have a great capacity for good, are creative, imaginative, hardworking and extremely resilient.
On the other hand, these strengths and positive human capital are systematically cancelled out by greed, corruption, criminality, indiscipline and the lack of personal integrity at all social levels.
Against this background it will be a challenge for change agents to keep emphasising the positives of the Jamaican people and the society. But in all circumstances, if we truly want changes for the better, we must focus on the positives while we confront the negatives.
The message of our cultural strengths, equitable relationships, respect for others, openness and honesty in both the private and public spheres, and an appreciation for our natural and built environments must be amongst the values and attitudes that we pass on to our children from a very early age.
To this end, the many new ideas that are being generated by the 'crisis in education' should be of immediate interest to all those who are searching for meaningful solutions.
TEACHING PARENTS
In the June 3, 2004 edition of The Gleaner it was reported that the government will be implementing a new initiative - a mandatory parent education programme. This programme will target mothers and fathers and will be designed to expose these parents to a variety of skills and the counselling of teenagers all this should lead to better academic performance.
While all efforts should be made to get every Jamaican parent to be involved in training and developing their offspring, much thought must be put into any parenting programme that is mandatory.
First of all, the authorities must be committed to sanctioning those parents who refuse to participate. In the same way that children are required to be in schools during a set period in life, so also must parents be expected to be involved with their children's education.
Currently, there are parent-teachers associations in the majority of Jamaican schools. The parents in these groupings are predominantly mothers and grandmothers. Even in the cases where the children are from nuclear families, it is usually the mothers who attend the parent-teachers meetings.
Also, when a child has difficulties at school and a note is sent home or a phone message left on the answering machine, it is usually the mother who turns up to hear about the excesses and shortcomings of the "monsters that they have created".
It is this pattern that the Honourable Minister Maxine Henry Wilson and her technical staff plan to change. They want all parents to be involved in 'good news' as well as 'bad news' sessions. They want parents to know their rights and to live up to their responsibilities. They also want the parents to learn that the Government has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and that under this convention, all Jamaican children have a right to proper nutrition, freedom from violence, care and guidance, a home environment that nurtures and sustains, and most importantly, a right to a sound education.
When all parents learn about these principles, they will also come to appreciate that school administrations and teachers have a responsibility to provide the kind of facilities, and learning environment that will maximise their children's chances of succeeding in the publicly funded educational system. It is by the total involvement of all parents that the system will become accountable.
Mandatory parenting education has to be conceptualised in a holistic framework. To this end, fathers must be expected to participate fully in all the planned programmes. This will be a great challenge to the planners and implementers of 'parenting education'.
PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED
It is pointless for school boards and principals to keep preaching to the 'converted parents'. They must insist where possible on the identification of the mothers and fathers of the children who enter their schools. Generally, the mother is known but in many cases the father is either not identifiable, or is not in any direct parenting role with his child or children.
In light of this social reality, parenting education must of necessity deal with gender inequality, the socialisation of boys and girls, and the role of parents in breaking established patterns that result in low self esteem, dependency, irresponsibility, the lack of respect for others and the undervaluing of academic excellence by far too many boys and some girls.
So while the Jamaican nation is struggling with the current challenges that are confronting the formal education system, all those who are involved in the values and attitudes initiatives and those planning the mandatory parenting programmes must come together in an effort to redefine 'success' beyond high or low grades on standardised tests.
In the final analysis, all of us must come to the point where we have the courage to realise that it is schools and parents who fail children. It is not the other way around.
Dr. Glenda P. Simms is the executive director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs.
