RBSC

**Historian** · December 19, 2013, 07:27 PM

A Not Surprising Development

Boss, you are getting good in the usage of wordplay (pun) to make headlines more catchy. In fact, I like this trend in current journalism!

Thanks for posting this bit of positive news. Obviously many of our Jamaican students, and their teachers at the secondary level are succeeding where it matters.

As far as the obvious disparity between both genders is concerned, this is a situation that I have commented on in the past on this forum. And the immense difference in performance between males and females is not merely limited to Jamaica; this is the situation in the entire Americas! (I once posted a New York Times investigative article on the more impressive performance of females in USA tertiary institutions when compared with males.)

If we should make a check on enrollment at the campuses of the UWI (Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados), at the University of Guyana, and at virtually all North American colleges and universities, we would probably be shocked at the gender differences. To cite just one example, a published enrollment figure for the UWI, Mona, a few years ago (maybe around 2007 or thereabouts), revealed that more than 80 percent of the students admitted were females!

Welcome to the new era, I say!

**Don1** · December 20, 2013, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by Historian View Post

Boss, you are getting good in the usage of wordplay (pun) to make headlines more catchy. In fact, I like this trend in current journalism!

Thanks for posting this bit of positive news. Obviously many of our Jamaican students, and their teachers at the secondary level are succeeding where it matters.

As far as the obvious disparity between both genders is concerned, this is a situation that I have commented on in the past on this forum. And the immense difference in performance between males and females is not merely limited to Jamaica; this is the situation in the entire Americas! (I once posted a New York Times investigative article on the more impressive performance of females in USA tertiary institutions when compared with males.)

If we should make a check on enrollment at the campuses of the UWI (Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados), at the University of Guyana, and at virtually all North American colleges and universities, we would probably be shocked at the gender differences. To cite just one example, a published enrollment figure for the UWI, Mona, a few years ago (maybe around 2007 or thereabouts), revealed that more than 80 percent of the students admitted were females!

Welcome to the new era, I say!

Histy you are entirely correct...except where you say I'm "getting good" at wordplay... FYI that status is longstanding

Females are definitely getting the better of males in ALL phases of education AND also in the workplace currently in most countries.

The rise of women is a good development but the phenomenon is becoming so striking that the disparity between female and male achievement is rapidly reaching crisis proportions where men will be permanently left behind. This may result in deficiencies in some society's capacity to develop (e.g. Jamaica) ... just as the prior widespread male discrimination against women in most countries limited development prospects ....as we still see today in some Muslim countries dominated by feudal or religious practices

The problem is very acute in Jamaica and similar underdeveloped countries ...and also in Black America which simulates many of the characteristics of an underdeveloped country when seen as a whole

The rise of women is a very good thing...but if men and boys continue on the current path there will be very serious development and social challenges to overcome... the problem needs special attention beginning at the primary & secondary level education system

**Historian** · December 20, 2013, 08:02 PM

Excellent Points

You are also entirely correct in every statement, here, boss, and not merely because I fully agree with you! Quite simply, every sentence in your post is a logical discussion of the existing facts as well as the likely consequences.

The rise of women is indeed a very, very good thing, and I am 100 percent happy and supportive of this development. However, as you quite correctly observed, “if men and boys continue on the current path there will be very serious development and social challenges to overcome.”

We are already seeing this latter consequence.

Originally posted by Don1 View Post

Histy you are entirely correct...except where you say I'm "getting good" at wordplay... FYI that status is longstanding

Females are definitely getting the better of males in ALL phases of education AND also in the workplace currently in most countries.

The rise of women is a good development but the phenomenon is becoming so striking that the disparity between female and male achievement is rapidly reaching crisis proportions where men will be permanently left behind. This may result in deficiencies in some society's capacity to develop (e.g. Jamaica) ... just as the prior widespread male discrimination against women in most countries limited development prospects ....as we still see today in some Muslim countries dominated by feudal or religious practices

The problem is very acute in Jamaica and similar underdeveloped countries ...and also in Black America which simulates many of the characteristics of an underdeveloped country when seen as a whole

The rise of women is a very good thing...but if men and boys continue on the current path there will be very serious development and social challenges to overcome... the problem needs special attention beginning at the primary & secondary level education system

**Don1** · December 20, 2013, 08:20 PM

ok boss

**Historian** · December 20, 2013, 08:27 PM

A Frank Discussion of the Situation

My Source: The Jamaica Gleaner (Editorial), Friday, December 20, 2013
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure1.html

EDITORIAL - Pockets Of Excellence In A Rotten System

Published: Friday | December 20, 2013

This newspaper acknowledges and congratulates the several Jamaican students who performed excellently in this year's Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) secondary-school examinations and who have recently been subject to such attention.

Indeed, not only was a Jamaican, Dea Thomas, named the region's most outstanding student, having scored top grades in 12 units of the CXC's advanced-level exams, Jamaicans were also the best performers in 15 discreet units of the test.

At the lower proficiency-level exam for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), students from this country performed best in 13 subjects and were in the top 10 of 35 of the 36 on offer.

Such results are, justly, a cause of pride for the students who achieved them and, understandably, of their schools and wider public.

But while there is celebration, it is important that we do not lose sight of the fact that they represent small pockets of excellence and, therefore, do not mask the ongoing crisis in Jamaica's education system.

Indeed, each year, of the cohort of students who enter high school at grade seven, more than one third are not available to sit CSEC exams, having either dropped out of school before grade 11, or been screened out of consideration by their teachers.

Of those who survive the exams, less than 20 per cent meet the national benchmark of passes in five subjects in a single sitting, under 40 per cent are successful at maths, and more than 40 per cent fail at English.

Further, of the aggregate, more than 266,000 papers written by Jamaican students at CSEC this year, there were passes in just over 60 per cent. Looked at another way, 36 per cent failed.

There are many reasons for this sad state of affairs, not least of which, this newspaper insists, is the absence of accountability in schools and the rejection by teachers and their unions to link compensation and other rewards to education outcomes.

school leadership abysmal

The feting of the top-performing students in CSEC, mainly from an expected handful of schools, coincided with the release of the latest report by the education ministry's school inspectorate. Around 300 schools were reviewed.

The reviewers found that in 79 per cent of the schools, students performed below benchmark standards, leadership was excellent or good in only nine per cent, and 46 per cent were satisfactory. Frighteningly, leadership and management, at 41 per cent, didn't make the basic cut. These findings were not substantially different from what was discovered at a different set of more than 200 schools a year ago.

What is not particularly surprising to this newspaper is the report's conclusion - that leaders of Jamaican schools spend too much time moaning about insufficient resources rather than focusing on how best to use what is available.

Teachers, clearly, don't sufficiently appreciate Jamaica's long-term economic crisis and the fact that taxpayers, rightly in our view, do not believe that they get sufficient returns for the J$70 billion a year they spend on education, which is nearly a quarter of government non-debt spending.

There are many policies required to fix education. We can start by holding teachers accountable and demanding results from our investment.

**Jawge** · December 20, 2013, 08:29 PM

Black America? You speak in loose terms. What you see in urban america define all black men in the US?

**Don1** · December 21, 2013, 12:01 AM

It's not merely about urban America or what I might see

I look at statistical information and relevant analyses... then come to a determination regarding a subject or a group of subjects

That's a scientific method

**Don1** · December 21, 2013, 12:15 AM

on point

**Jawge** · December 21, 2013, 03:35 AM

Okay but you do know that these data can be manipulated at times. Yes?

Scientific method is when one can produce the same results no matter where the method is being performed. If it doesn't hold then it's reduced to a conjecture.

**Peter R** · December 21, 2013, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by Don1 View Post

Education Ministry lauds Jamaican students on receiving CXC Regional Awards
Sunday, December 15, 2013 | 4:32 PM

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Ministry of Education has lauded three Jamaican students for copping top regional awards in the 2013 Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams.

At a ceremony recently held in Guyana, CXC awarded Dea Thomas of Ardenne High School for being the Most Outstanding Candidate in the Caribbean Overall in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites

CXC noted that Thomas “becomes the eight recipient and first Jamaican student to win the award,” which is named in honour of Dennis Irvine, former chairman of the Council. She received Grade 1 in 12 CAPE units.
The Most Outstanding Candidate in Humanities in the region was awarded to Tasanique Henry of Hampton High School for achieving Grade 1 in eight CAPE units.

Another Jamaica student, Ranolyn Hunt of St Mary’s College, won the regional award for Most Outstanding Candidate in Visual Arts (3-dimensional work) in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination. Hunt designed and produced an elaborate necklace for a fashion show using macramé techniques and wire as well as natural fibres.

In congratulating the awardees, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites said “all Jamaica is proud of your scholastic achievement which is a result of your diligence and the dedication of your teachers”.

Minister Thwaites also commended other Jamaican students who have placed in the top ten in the 2013 CSEC examinations for the Caribbean.
Jamaican students topped the ranking in 13 subjects including Mathematics and English Language. In addition, Jamaican students and schools place in the top ten in 34 of a total of 35 CSEC subjects in the region.

In several subjects only two or three other countries appear alongside Jamaica in the regional top 10 ranking in CSEC. The subjects include Religious Education, Building Technology (Construction), Clothing and Textiles, as well as Human and Social Biology.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2nveXvAhA

Did the CXC really say that?? hmmm.

**Islandman** · December 21, 2013, 10:13 AM

There are many sources of data showing the predicament of Black America today.

Do you have any data that shows Black America NOT lagging in the critical areas of socio-economic development?

Education?
Health outcomes?
Income levels?
Incarceration rates?

Please share. Thanks.

**Don1** · December 21, 2013, 10:34 AM

Originally posted by Peter R View Post

Did the CXC really say that?? hmmm.

Nope...but mi naw wait pon dem... is not inna fi dem remit fi deal wid dat

D1 juss mek di call an' wait fi persons fi ketch up weneva dem si di light

**Don1** · December 21, 2013, 10:39 AM

True but I don't believe that my thesis is based on the construct you're describing .... I believe it's well founded by data

The truth is often uncomfortable... but that doesn't prevent it from being true

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