96% of top 100 primary level schools are private

[Don1]

Let's thinks outside of the box and try to come up with a hybrid solution. Government cannot spend money efficiently. How about government providing voucher for a fewlow income families to attend Prep schools?

what will this window dressing accomplish exactly??????

Muss one flowers box yuh ah tawk ...woooiiiee

[Islandman]

Voucher? FIYA BUN fe dem George Bush philosophy deh!

Try get that or any other post-1900 idea on education reform past the teachers unions if you think you bad.

[Islandman]

Short term experiment with a view to getting a window into a longer term problem.

[Don1]

I don't really like that since it ignores the real problem... fixing primary education

My solution:

Aanlyze both high & low performing primary schools at a granular level

Isolate those factors which give the biggest boost to student performance... and conversely those that most inhibit performance

Develop "Best Practices" manual of operations based on analysis

Educate the educators re best practices ... set targets for each school to adopt best practices where appropriate

Hold principals, teachers and school boards accountable for results... by revising legislation if necessary

[Sir X]

Best practices,you think they are familar with the concept ?.Yuh nuh hear dem nuh believe inna science .

[Don1]

Best practices,you think they are familar with the concept ?.Yuh nuh hear dem nuh believe inna science .

mi did figget... tuh much ah Ben tribal diatribe mi suppose

[Islandman]

The first 4 are not difficult to do from a technical standpoint. The last one is where the rubber meets the road. VERY difficult to achieve the support and political will to get it done.

One can only hold principals, teachers, and school boards accountable if you can DISMISS those who are not performing and REWARD those who are. That kind of accountability is exactly what unions generally DO NOT want. As to school boards, I am not even sure how you get people off them in Jamaica. What I do know is that many of them have the same people year after year until they wither away and die.

One way to get there is to chip away at the fossilized system with ideas like vouchers and charter schools. Test the implementation of your bullet points by GOING AROUND the system and analyze results.

Suppose for example that it is discovered that the cost of giving a youth a voucher to attend a decent school is not that much more than what it is costing now to keep him in the failure factory that is the primary public school system? Given how inefficient and corrupt government is that would not be a big surprise to me. Suppose his/her performance is much improved in the new school? Then maybe the longer term solution should involve some type of public-private partnership .

Suppose his/her performance is no better? Then maybe the problem is less the school and more his/her home environment. How best do we address that given the resource limitations? After school care? Pre-school programs? Educating the pregnant mothers about early childhood education?

Now we all know it is a combination of factors but we are looking for the ones that will give us the best return for our money in each iteration of change. Experimentation and perpetual analysis allows us to figure that out.

[Time]

.. and bingo you discover that you need to fix some major socio-economic issues that will take a long time and a lot a of money to fix. What do you do? Let the dozen that you could have saved now with vouchers suffer while you fix society? Why not try both long term and short term solutions?

[Don1]

Interesting points.

I hear about this voucher thingy but I'm not convinced it leads to the systemic change which is my target.

Then again I have not investigated it thoroughly so what do I know?

Govt should do whatever works.... Just do It

[Don1]

ok yuh gwaan wuk pon di dozen if dat wet yuh whistle

mi wi focus pon di next 400,000

[Time]

Wolmer's and other overseas Alumni are helping to fund a private school in Trench Town. The cost per student per year to us is very cheap and the school receives nothing whatsoever from government. Its about US $300+ per year per student.

I like the charter schools idea for inner city schools. If Government can get a private investor to set up shop for 10 students per year (grade 4, 5 and 6) inside Denam Town Primary with a student to teacher ration of 10 to 1 then trust me that would be a good short term solution.

[Don1]

Nice.. this should be encouraged... but it's still mere band aids unfortunately

At the moment the real focus should be on innovative but practical models for SYSTEMIC change

But dats juss my take

[Karl]

The first 4 are not difficult to do from a technical standpoint. The last one is where the rubber meets the road. VERY difficult to achieve the support and political will to get it done.

One can only hold principals, teachers, and school boards accountable if you can DISMISS those who are not performing and REWARD those who are. That kind of accountability is exactly what unions generally DO NOT want. As to school boards, I am not even sure how you get people off them in Jamaica. What I do know is that many of them have the same people year after year until they wither away and die.

One way to get there is to chip away at the fossilized system with ideas like vouchers and charter schools. Test the implementation of your bullet points by GOING AROUND the system and analyze results.

Suppose for example that it is discovered that the cost of giving a youth a voucher to attend a decent school is not that much more than what it is costing now to keep him in the failure factory that is the primary public school system? Given how inefficient and corrupt government is that would not be a big surprise to me. Suppose his/her performance is much improved in the new school? Then maybe the longer term solution should involve some type of public-private partnership .

Suppose his/her performance is no better? Then maybe the problem is less the school and more his/her home environment. How best do we address that given the resource limitations? After school care? Pre-school programs? Educating the pregnant mothers about early childhood education?

Now we all know it is a combination of factors but we are looking for the ones that will give us the best return for our money in each iteration of change. Experimentation and perpetual analysis allows us to figure that out.

That conservative "voucher policy" is a an attempt at institutionalized failure. It rewards the few - students, schools/education entities and families and condemn the many to 'the failing institutions'. = Ensuring perpetuation of 'the failing institutions'.

The way forward is as Don1 suggests - IMPROVE THE EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT...IN ALL THE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS!!! Improve them to TOP OF THE WORLD status!!!

One of the pieces of propaganda the Conservatives would have you believe is, *'voucher schools' and other schools cannot co-exist each providing excellent education. Clearly a nonsense talk...mere beating of the gums based on their belief system based on their mantra that - The voters are asses!!!! First confuse them with bullshit and close the deal! The same old tactic of 'snake oil' salesmen = disgustingly corrupt frauds!!!

*Magnet schools, schools specializing in say, science, IT...etc.

[Time]

I fully accept that this is Band aid where major surgery is required. We know that we are only helping a few while the majority falls through the crack but we don't have the power to fix society. We are doing a lot to help. The United Jamaica Alumni Associations based in NY have been donating water tanks to basic schools in Jamaica for many years because government would not do it. We are helping the inner city versions of prep schools because the government won't do it. Each association is helping its high school because that is why we exist. It's up to the voters to get the major surgery done.

[Islandman]

It is not a long term solution. Neither are charter schools. They are a way to figure out where the solution is. Some charter schools are fantastic, other are average at best.

If a charter school is delivering below average performance it can and should be shut down as it is not delivering value. You CANNOT do the same with a failing public school and that is a major problem.

Ideas like Charter schools and vouchers should be used as the test bed for reform. The fact that a minority of students are fortunate to get a quality education from it should be seen as a side benefit, not the primary reason for the program.