The country's English language woes are nothing new, but each year when Dr. Ralph Thompson reminds us of how atrocious the situation is through a careful analysis of passes in the subject at the first stage of external examinations for high school students, as he did in yesterday's Gleaner, it is still a shock.

Of course, English being the official language, does not mean that it is the one spoken in the main and by the majority, as Jamaican Creole holds sway over the tongue if not the text. While we do not suggest that there is an exclusive cause-and-effect relationship between the tripping of non-English off the tongue and the tripping up of candidates at the hurdle of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, we do realise that the official language is not the language of majority choice and the peculiar complications which arise from this require creative solutions.

That a solution is required for this seemingly immutable situation is clear. We simply continue to produce cohort after cohort of high school graduates, of whom a crushingly high number are, as Thompson was quoted as saying yesterday, "virtually illiterate". And, with the mathematics results also way below what could be considered acceptable, there must be quite a few 'virtually innumerate' high school leavers as well.

As was reported for the 2007 CSEC exams, according to Dr. Thompson, total school enrolment for English language was 40,037, but 17,612 students were not allowed to sit the examination. Of the 22,425 who sat the examination, 10,789 failed.

"So, between those who are culled and those who failed, 28,401 Jamaican children left our high schools virtually illiterate, barely able to understand or speak standard English," said Dr. Thompson.

While this may be insignificant or even encouraging to some employers in economic sectors in which strength of limb is more germane then agility of the mind, it is of deep concern to us not only because of the implications for international and also intranational communication. After all, it must damage the self-esteem greatly if interacting with documentation requires grappling with an unfamiliar language with which one should be comfortable.

Fortunately, Thompson has presented us not only with the problem but also the solution, as he suggests that at least 11 per cent of the next education budget go towards early childhood education. If implemented, this would be a tremendous boost towards shoring up English passes - genuine English passes, we must add, which means facility with the language and not simply a paper grade - in the long run.

In the very short run, remedial English classes are required for not only the culled and failed students of 2007, but also several such previous annual batches. And while we would not dare put a figure on the cost, we do suspect that the benefits would substantially outweigh the outlay.

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