Stephen VasciannieWHY DOES one secondary school outperform another? This, it seems to me, is one question at the heart of our frequent debates on secondary education in Jamaica. A related question - do we really have a proper measure of the performance of schools? - also needs consideration in our debates.
As to the first question, some factors that explain school performances are readily identifiable. Secondary schools, by name and nature, are not intended to prepare the foundation for educational achievement; rather, they are designed to build on the structure created by the primary (and early childhood) system. Thus, the performance of a particular secondary school will turn partly, but quite significantly, on the reservoir of primary or preparatory schools that supply the secondary school with students.
HOME ENVIRONMENT
Secondly, because much learning also takes place outside the school gates, the home environment is also a critical factor in determining school performance. Here, the point is not only that a stable environment in which parents and guardians send the child to study will promote academic success. It is also that the home environment can engender positive or negative attitudes to learning. If the questioning mind of the child is discouraged because the adults are pressed for time to discuss things, then naturally some students will come to regard the process of analysing things and events as an unnecessary part of mental development.
Thirdly, the overall performance at a school in examination matters, will turn significantly on the knowledge commitment and pedagogical skills of the teachers. All too often, I fear, it is assumed that a teacher will have the requisite knowledge to guide students through, say, the technicalities of the CAPE or the "A" levels, simply because the teacher holds a university degree. This is not true, and the school principal who bears that in mind will be doing a service to her or his students.
Commitment and skill are also important: can we not remember the teacher who infected an entire class with her or his love for a subject? And do we not remember the uninspired and uninspiring alternative? That said, however, it bears emphasis that knowledge is the key component for the teacher. This is axiomatic: knowledge is the sine qua non for the process of knowledge transmission.
The legendary teachers, including, for instance, Miss G. Cunningham at St. Richard's Primary, and KC's Mr. E. McDonald of all have demonstrated knowledge well beyond the level of their assigned teaching duties. Over 40 years removed from Mr. McDonald's first form Mathematics class, Glen Laman, an Old Boy living in North America, reminded me of Mr. McDonald's BOMDAS (brackets, of, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction, in that order): what greater tribute to teaching can there be?
TEACHERS
But good teachers are not fully formed from the head of Zeus. Nor will they necessarily remain in the classroom for a lifetime of economic sacrifice. So, another set of challenges for the school principal turn on how to identify, nurture and retain high quality teachers, in an environment that does not accord serious financial incentives to the teaching profession. It is sometimes suggested that the student-teacher ratio will also have considerable bearing on performance at a given secondary school. At the different ends of the spectrum, this may be true; but, it seems fair to say that the correlation between examination performance and student-teacher ratios in the high schools is not profound.
The Jamaica School Profiles 2000-2001 publication of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture indicates the following student-teacher ratios for a subset of high schools:
STUDENT-TEACHER RATIOS
SCHOOLS RATIO
Ardenne High 18:1
Calabar 21:1
Campion 21:1
Cornwall 15:1
Haile Selassie 15:1
Herbert Morrison 16:1
Immaculate 20:1
Jamaica College 21:1
Manchester 18:1
Manning's 17:1
Morant Bay 16:1
Munro College 18:1
Norman Manley 24:1
Pembroke Hall 17:1
Rusea's High 21:1
St. Andrew High 18:1
St. Hilda's 24:1
The Queens School 15:1
Titchfield High 21:1
Westwood High 22:1
St. George's, Holy Trinity High, Wolmer's Boys and Girls, Kingston College, Meadowbrook, Merl Grove, St. Hugh's, Trench Town High and Spanish Town High, all had a ratio of 19 to 1 for the period reviewed.
From this illustrative sample of secondary schools, there seems, generally, to be no substantial variation in student-teacher ratios, and yet we know that there is substantial variation in performance at different schools. This tends to suggest that divergencies in the student-teacher ratio may not be a critical factor in explaining school performance.
LEADERSHIP
Other factors affecting school performance may be mentioned briefly. Implicit in what I have said so far is the idea that school leadership is important: senior staff members need to impart moral values, a vision of progress, a love for learning, discipline, and an understanding of the wider society to students. They will also have to keep up "the struggle" to maintain school infrastructure, particularly in respect of laboratory facilities.
Finally, we should not forget the role of alumni associations, both at home and abroad. The Minister of Education has herself acknowledged that the contribution of past students is a valuable component of the secondary educational system. A few weeks ago, the KC Old Boys of Atlanta held their annual banquet to benefit the school, and this was to be followed in short order by a similar function organised by St. Hugh's Old Girls. This kind of effort deserves nothing but praise. Past students raise thousands of dollars to support school infrastructure, promote extracurricular activities, instil school loyalty, and generate a sense of continuity and purpose among different generations. The contribution of past students also reminds that it takes the community to educate a child.
Education, then, is a collective effort. But, even so, we must keep a watchful eye on our schools; in that way, we may be able to identify the positive and negative factors at work in particular institutions.
Stephen Vasciannie is Professor of International Law, head of the Department of Government at the UWI, Mona campus and a consultant to the Attorney-General's chambers).
