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Teachers have low expectations of inner-city students, says Holness
LUKE DOUGLAS, Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Jamaica's teachers and school administrators have lower expectations for students from inner-city communities than those from higher-income backgrounds, asserts Education Minister Andrew Holness.
As a result Holness said his ministry was contemplating a programme to raise the self-esteem of students and to get teachers to believe in them.
"It's a major challenge to get the leaders in education to believe that you, the students who come from the inner city, can actually achieve as much as students who come from the suburbs or middle-class Jamaica," Holness said on Monday afternoon. "It's not just the leaders who have low expectations of the students, but the students have low expectations of themselves."
The education minister was addressing an awards ceremony in recognition of the outstanding academic performance of students who participated in the Programmed Reading Intervention for Mainstreamed At Risk Youth (PRIMARY) Success in Reading programme.
The programme was implemented in 2000 under the leadership of South St Andrew Member of Parliament, Dr Omar Davies, in five primary level schools serving his constituency, with the aim of improving literacy levels there.
The progress of the students has been remarkable. At the start of the programme, 72 per cent were deemed at risk by the education ministry based on their grade four test results. Eight years later, 61 per cent of the students were successful in at least five subjects in the school-leaving Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
The ministry is looking seriously at a programme that will address the issue of self-esteem and expectations in our children, and get our educators to believe that education is a right that everyone should have access to, Holness added.
However, president of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), Doran Dixon, does not agree with the minister's statement.
"I believe most teachers have high expectations of their students no matter where they are located. I would not support that as a blanket statement," Dixon said in response to questions from the Observer.
The JTA head said while teachers, like other persons, are affected by the views of society, he did not see the matter of expectations as a major issue.
"I don't think it's a system-wide problem, because we see students from the inner city getting eight and nine (CSEC) subjects in one sitting, and we see students from primary schools getting the highest grades in the GSAT exams, just as children from the preparatory schools who you would suspect are better off. I'm sure if you look at the intake at the universities and look at their geographic origins, it would be spread right across (the income groups)," Dixon stated.
Holness also said the education system was also lacking a strong spirit of accountability, as someone should have taken responsibility for Jamaica's problem of illiteracy which he said stood at approximately 60 per cent in 1999. He said the education ministry was holding itself accountable for the outcomes in the system.
LUKE DOUGLAS, Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Jamaica's teachers and school administrators have lower expectations for students from inner-city communities than those from higher-income backgrounds, asserts Education Minister Andrew Holness.
As a result Holness said his ministry was contemplating a programme to raise the self-esteem of students and to get teachers to believe in them.
"It's a major challenge to get the leaders in education to believe that you, the students who come from the inner city, can actually achieve as much as students who come from the suburbs or middle-class Jamaica," Holness said on Monday afternoon. "It's not just the leaders who have low expectations of the students, but the students have low expectations of themselves."
The education minister was addressing an awards ceremony in recognition of the outstanding academic performance of students who participated in the Programmed Reading Intervention for Mainstreamed At Risk Youth (PRIMARY) Success in Reading programme.
The programme was implemented in 2000 under the leadership of South St Andrew Member of Parliament, Dr Omar Davies, in five primary level schools serving his constituency, with the aim of improving literacy levels there.
The progress of the students has been remarkable. At the start of the programme, 72 per cent were deemed at risk by the education ministry based on their grade four test results. Eight years later, 61 per cent of the students were successful in at least five subjects in the school-leaving Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
The ministry is looking seriously at a programme that will address the issue of self-esteem and expectations in our children, and get our educators to believe that education is a right that everyone should have access to, Holness added.
However, president of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), Doran Dixon, does not agree with the minister's statement.
"I believe most teachers have high expectations of their students no matter where they are located. I would not support that as a blanket statement," Dixon said in response to questions from the Observer.
The JTA head said while teachers, like other persons, are affected by the views of society, he did not see the matter of expectations as a major issue.
"I don't think it's a system-wide problem, because we see students from the inner city getting eight and nine (CSEC) subjects in one sitting, and we see students from primary schools getting the highest grades in the GSAT exams, just as children from the preparatory schools who you would suspect are better off. I'm sure if you look at the intake at the universities and look at their geographic origins, it would be spread right across (the income groups)," Dixon stated.
Holness also said the education system was also lacking a strong spirit of accountability, as someone should have taken responsibility for Jamaica's problem of illiteracy which he said stood at approximately 60 per cent in 1999. He said the education ministry was holding itself accountable for the outcomes in the system.
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