Tweet
Waite bats for better quality teachers
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
OPPOSITION spokesman on education, Senator Basil Waite, says there is a need for better quality teachers in Jamaican schools if the education system is to be improved.
WAITE... essentially with each passing year we are digging the hole deeper
Waite, who was addressing the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange meeting at the company's Beechwood Avenue offices recently, said while class sizes, among other things, remain an issue for the education system, a major problem was with the quality of teachers.
"We need to get better quality teachers and it should not be a profession of last resort," Waite said. "We also need to continue to train teachers so we have the best of the best."
Pointing to an international study looking at some of the best education systems of the world, Waite said a major finding is that an education system will only be as good as the quality of the teachers.
He said the establishment of the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) which is aimed at licensing and focusing on the professional development of teachers, should assist in seeing some improvement in the quality of Jamaican teachers.
Waite stressed how important it is that the JTC is seeking to set standards which will, among other things, see the criteria for admission to a teacher's college be increased from five subjects to six over time, with Mathematics and English being a must.
"A number of the teachers' colleges are offering first degrees and initially it was four subjects to get in but that has now moved to five and so gradually the JTC is setting the standards," he said.
Waite said it is no secret that Jamaica's education system is struggling and as such his major concern is with the timely implementation of recommendations of the Education Transformation Task Force.
He opined that there are many studies with fancy recommendations; however, the lack of implementation continues to be a major weakness.
He cited a recommendation out of the Transformation Task Force which included the construction of more schools, especially in areas such as St Ann, Clarendon and St Catherine where acute shortages exist.
Waite said this project needed approximately $6 billion to complete, expand or build schools, however only $3.5 billion was allocated in the budget for this financial year.
"Essentially with each passing year we are digging that hole deeper and we will still have to be sending students from here to Timbuktu to get an education which is not the optimum situation," he said.
The education spokesman said this shortfall will affect the placement of students in school, class sizes as well as the distance that students will have to travel to get to school.
"And obviously this is going to affect the outcome in the quality of the education," he reiterated. Meanwhile, Waite said while
he prefers the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which replaced the Common Entrance Examinations, he is still not satisfied with its application and is in support of its review.
He argued that traditional high schools continue to attract students with the better results and as such the complaints from the non-traditional schools are valid.
"The question is how [will] you solve it," he said. "Until you equip the non-traditional high schools with good quality teachers with the necessary resources, with all the best efforts there will still be an existing tier structure in the education system."
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
OPPOSITION spokesman on education, Senator Basil Waite, says there is a need for better quality teachers in Jamaican schools if the education system is to be improved.
WAITE... essentially with each passing year we are digging the hole deeperWaite, who was addressing the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange meeting at the company's Beechwood Avenue offices recently, said while class sizes, among other things, remain an issue for the education system, a major problem was with the quality of teachers.
"We need to get better quality teachers and it should not be a profession of last resort," Waite said. "We also need to continue to train teachers so we have the best of the best."
Pointing to an international study looking at some of the best education systems of the world, Waite said a major finding is that an education system will only be as good as the quality of the teachers.
He said the establishment of the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) which is aimed at licensing and focusing on the professional development of teachers, should assist in seeing some improvement in the quality of Jamaican teachers.
Waite stressed how important it is that the JTC is seeking to set standards which will, among other things, see the criteria for admission to a teacher's college be increased from five subjects to six over time, with Mathematics and English being a must.
"A number of the teachers' colleges are offering first degrees and initially it was four subjects to get in but that has now moved to five and so gradually the JTC is setting the standards," he said.
Waite said it is no secret that Jamaica's education system is struggling and as such his major concern is with the timely implementation of recommendations of the Education Transformation Task Force.
He opined that there are many studies with fancy recommendations; however, the lack of implementation continues to be a major weakness.
He cited a recommendation out of the Transformation Task Force which included the construction of more schools, especially in areas such as St Ann, Clarendon and St Catherine where acute shortages exist.
Waite said this project needed approximately $6 billion to complete, expand or build schools, however only $3.5 billion was allocated in the budget for this financial year.
"Essentially with each passing year we are digging that hole deeper and we will still have to be sending students from here to Timbuktu to get an education which is not the optimum situation," he said.
The education spokesman said this shortfall will affect the placement of students in school, class sizes as well as the distance that students will have to travel to get to school.
"And obviously this is going to affect the outcome in the quality of the education," he reiterated. Meanwhile, Waite said while
he prefers the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which replaced the Common Entrance Examinations, he is still not satisfied with its application and is in support of its review.
He argued that traditional high schools continue to attract students with the better results and as such the complaints from the non-traditional schools are valid.
"The question is how [will] you solve it," he said. "Until you equip the non-traditional high schools with good quality teachers with the necessary resources, with all the best efforts there will still be an existing tier structure in the education system."
Comment