Orville Taylor, Contributor
Never mind the degrees and my infatuation with knowledge. I hated school and was afraid of teachers, students and the long wait in class until my favourite subject: lunch. True, that has changed somewhat, but I am very thankful that it was during the 1960s that I attended basic to primary school and in the 1970s that Father Feres allowed me into the hallowed halls of St George's College.
In these two decades, there were fewer schools and all-age and junior secondary students were condemned to a dead end from which only a few could escape by passing the Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT). This GNAT was really a gnat as its opportunity was just like a little mosquito that disappeared faster than it could be caught. The Common Entrance though, was different. True, it was not common and it only gave limited entrance to only the brightest and preferred, but it opened many doors for poor people's children with ability but no money.
With the exception of a few elite schools such as the aforementioned St George's and its sibling Kingston College (KC), teachers at the secondary level were far less qualified than today. There are far more teachers today with university-level qualification than then.
In absolute terms, more high-school places are available and never mind the argument that many upgraded schools are simply renamed secondary schools. The fact is, they existed then and had less-qualified teachers, fewer resources, and a less-progressive curriculum. Students at schools such as Holy Trinity, Vauxhall and Pembroke Hall, among others, did not have the opportunity to do the GCE or CSEC (CXC) examinations.
'Corporal' punishment
And teachers used to beat. Indeed, the caning that some of my colleagues got was not simply 'corporal' punishment. It was more like sergeant or 'kernel'. And children behaved. Parents too!
Compared to the 1960s, children are spending more years in school, teenage pregnancy has declined, the average age of women having their first child is increasing, and despite this being a non-reading generation, the overall literacy levels have improved. In contrast to the 1980s, it is easier to access secondary education and students are guaranteed free sitting of at least four CSEC subjects in grade 11. Books are more readily available and the Internet provides a myriad of information, including electronic versions of the literature needed at all levels. Much of it is free.
Over the past year, there have been several mind-jerking incidents in our secondary schools. Last year, male students of Kingston Technical High penned and restrained a female teacher in what looks like a rape attempt. At Old Harbour High, a student stabbed another to death, while just down the road at Vere Technical in Clarendon, an all-out riot broke out over the shooting of students by a security guard, resulting in school property being vandalised and the guard hut torched.
Later, a student of Robert Lightbourne High hit a security guard with a piece of wood, killing him. Two weeks ago, three man-children at Pembroke Hall High attacked and beat a male teacher, provoking a teacher protest by inappropriately wearing black. The choice of colour clearly shows that slavery is still in our minds and the greatest Jamaican of all, Marcus Garvey, must be crying. Add to these the countless incidents at the school bearing his name and we are having a 'crysis'.
One of the benefits in naming schools after great people after they have died is that they never get to see the awful things that go on in places associated with their names. Two of the greatest Jamaicans ever, Monsignor Gladstone Wilson and Bishop Percival Gibson, must be turning blue with anger and purple with rage at the recent flare-up between boys of St George's and KC, resulting in blood being drawn. Gibson would be particularly perturbed because he went to George's between 1907 and 1910 and founded KC within 15 years of his graduation.
Behavioural problems
Not only would he have been upset over the incident, but to know that it started because a 'gentlemanly' Georgian slapped his 'sister' from Alpha! Somebody did not teach these boys not to do what they did.
Don't write off the girls. Countless videos and photos feature girls from prominent high schools. The uniforms show that the princesses are not Queen's, and Gibson's own Glenmuir uniform has been desecrated.
If there are so many factors facilitating secondary education, why then are there so many behavioural problems with students? My sociology does not allow me to place the blame at the feet of the youth because 'they do not raise themselves!' True, some behave as if they are their own 'big ooman' and 'big man', but they are the products of their socialisation. As simple as the Peter Tosh song of the 1970s goes, You Can't Blame the Youth.
There is a crisis in Jamaican leadership as our youth lack positive role models. It is not that there are not any, but they are not readily making themselves available. By the way, the teachers themselves are also suffering from this lack of moral leadership.
Teachers abusing students
Remember that several incidents have been about teachers abusing students as well. These include the alleged carnal abuse at Thompson Town in Clarendon, the teacher-directed gang beating of students of Spanish Town High who were accused of stealing his phone, and the mauling of a child by a female teacher.
What we need is to repair the breach by teaching parents 'to parent' once more and hold them accountable for failing. Furthermore, laws must be passed seriously to penalise anyone; parent, student or otherwise, who attacks school officials. As our youth delegate appealed last week, 'Save our youth'.
Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona and may be reached at orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm
