10,000 illiterates placed in first form - PAC says situation a crisis, calls for immediate remedial action
Published: Wednesday | October 7, 2009
STUNNED BY an alarming revelation that thousands of functionally illiterate children were promoted to high schools at the start of the new academic year in September, members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday called the situation a crisis and demanded immediate remedial action from the Ministry of Education.
"You have just placed 10,000 illiterates in first form," committee Chairman Dr Omar Davies charged, while addressing ministry officials during a sitting of the PAC.
A crisis
The officials included Permanent Secretary Audrey Sewell, Chief Education Officer Jasper Lawrence and Salomie Evering, deputy education officer for curriculum development.
"As far as the Ministry of Education is concerned, we have accepted that there is a crisis," Sewell conceded.
She said the ministry has introduced a number of initiatives such as increasing the number of reading specialists in schools.
Executives from the ministry were asked to give a response to the high levels of under-performance by students at the secondary level.
Acquiescing that they have promoted students who were non-literate to high schools, the officials pledged to produce a comprehensive plan by November to significantly reduce the levels of illiteracy in secondary and primary schools.
Sewell had advised the committee that the ministry was attempting to wipe out the illiteracy rate among students by 2011. However, the committee demanded improved results by next year.
Dissatisfied by the ministry's response to the nearly 21 per cent failure rate in the GSAT, committee member Ronald Thwaites said the ministry was "weak-kneed" in its approach to arresting the problem.
He warned against promoting students without first ensuring that they had mastered their respective grade levels.
'Stop it now'
"You are on a conveyor belt, stop it, 'Mr Education'. Stop it now, you are indicted, we are all, we put thousands of illiterate students into first form and plan what may happen in four years time to relieve that," Thwaites said.
Committee member Michael Stern suggested that a national voluntary programme should be launched over a two-year period to rescue the thousands of illiterate children in schools.
"There are retired teachers, there are professionals who have time, churches which will provide their facilities for these students," Stern proposed.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
GSAT data2009 language arts results
One out of five students got a score of 33 per cent or less in language arts. This group falls in the category of non-literate.
47,815 sat the GSAT
9,989 got 33 per cent or less.
Region 6 (Clarendon and St Catherine) recorded the highest rate of illiteracy.
Distribution of non-literate students
| School types | # of schools | # of students | |
| High | 93 | 4,979 | |
| Primary and junior high | 79 | 3,836 | |
| All age | 58 | 1,058 | |
| Technical | 2 | 105 | |
| Special | 2 | 11 | |
| TOTAL | 232 | 9,989
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