Education system needs another seismic game-changer

[Karl]

GARFIELD HIGGINS

Sunday, June 22, 2014

"The best way to improve the American [Jamaican my insert] workforce in the 21st century is to invest in early childhood education, to ensure that even the most disadvantaged children have the opportunity to succeed alongside their more advantaged peers." -- James Heckman [Nobel Laureate in Economics]

The recent revelation by Ainsworth Darby, chairman of EducateJamaica.Org. that only 41 of 161, or 25 per cent, of high schools surveyed were able to attain the minimum threshold of 50 per cent of their students passing five CSEC subjects at one sitting, for the umpteenth time rings home the reality that the foundations of Jamaica's education system urgently needs another seismic game-changer.

[B]The fact that at many schools the pass rate was below three per cent -- and that is after nearly a third of the cohort who entered the secondary school system at grade one had either dropped out before grade 11, or were screened out of the examinations -- reminds us that we are in deep trouble.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...nger-_16953682

[Karl]

Don1, Islandman, Historian, others...

...sensible look at the problem laden with facts.
The suggestions on solutions are very interesting!

What did Paul Marin say?

I think they "*play as they do"..."because of lack of good teaching within our local EDUCATION system", not "local FOOTBALL EDUCATION system". Our inability to learn football (and everything else) stems from our deplorable school system. Fix that, and our football, economy, social order etc. etc. etc. will follow. And it is a fix, because at one time, it was not broken - at least, it was far better than it is now.

http://www.reggaeboyzsc.com/forum1/s...tem#post481345

He may have been wrong on our ever having a 'fixed system'...but his observations on the 'necessary fix' is 'bang on'!

*play=results of that education

[Islandman]

Good history lesson on the education system in JA.

Some of his proposals to raise the required revenue are, to put it mildly, radical. If such big a stink was made of the bank transaction tax (which i maintain was not a bad idea in principle) then most of these ideas do not have a chance in hell.

The growing consensus among many does appear to be that you get the best return on your scarce dollars by focusing on early childhood education. However it is by no means a panacea. The data I have seen shows encouraging but inconsistent results. I think it is the direction to take though. I continue to watch the results of Harlem Childrens Zone and other such projects closely.

More than anything else, we need to have the WILL to make this kind of radical change. Not so much the government but the society.

[Assasin]

I don't think the problem is so much the bank tax but the fact that taxes are been raised left, right and center and the dollar is shrinking and there is no raise in pay. You have to put it in that context. Primary focus for us is to stop devaluing our dollar and grow our economy. Many people real income may have fallen at least 20-30 percent in the last 2 years.

[Karl]

Primary focus for us is to stop devaluing our dollar and grow our economy.

Jamaica? ...144 sq. miles. ...with Tourism, bauxite...and precious little else?...hey?...chicken or the egg?

Wonder how you do that...how do you grow Jamaica's economy?
Suggestions...please?
...but do not answer here as that is for another thread!

[HL]

.............2014, and "we' are still discussing solving some of Jamaicas' outstanding problems. This is extremely sad.

It simply means another generation will pass...and we will be still talking.

Indeed, the school system is in shambles and need repair. Alongside that creative minds need to come up with job-creation initiatives to employ the graduates...............

[Don1]

I believe PM is 1000% wrong in stating that the JA education system was EVER any good in the past. The fact that a few schools had in the past or have now a great quality intake, great facilities and great results doesn't make the system good.
They're just outliers... a small subset in a universe of mediocre to poor results [/quote]

Bang on!

Ironically those schools which performed at a high level in the past and at a high level now are not doing so DESPITE the education system but BECAUSE of it's rotten nature.

The funneling of the relatively few high achieving GSAT students into a relatively few schools mirrors the warped mechanisms of the past. So the focus of the article on improving early education is totally correct since the systemic breakdown starts from the pre-primary and primary level

Bang on!

Jamaica's system was always rotten but it's better now than at any time in the past.... but is still poor in quality

What has changed from say the 1960s or 1970s (when some may be seduced into believing the system was better) is that our EXPECTATIONS are much higher... So the continuing poor quality education is not as acceptable to Jamaicans as it was in the past. That's a good thing

Bang on!

[Islandman]

hat has changed from say the 1960s or 1970s (when some may be seduced into believing the system was better) is that our EXPECTATIONS are much higher... So the continuing poor quality education is not as acceptable to Jamaicans as it was in the past. That's a good thing

This is true. I believe this is at least partly because more data from the entire school system is being made available to the general public, and it shows how bad it is.

In the past many would focus primarily on the so-called traditional high schools and delude ourselves that it represented the secondary school system, when in the shadows were the then junior secondary schools, now the upgraded high schools. They were most likely producing more illiterates then than they do today.

In my time most of the students I knew who went to secondary schools did not even do CXC/GCE exams.

Ignorance is bliss they say.

[Don1]

This is true. I believe this is at least partly because more data from the entire school system is being made available to the general public, and it shows how bad it is.

In the past many would focus primarily on the so-called traditional high schools and delude ourselves that it represented the secondary school system, when in the shadows were the then junior secondary schools, now the upgraded high schools. They were most likely producing more illiterates then than they do today.

In my time most of the students I knew who went to secondary schools did not even do CXC/GCE exams.

Ignorance is bliss they say.

yep ... unfortunate but true

[Assasin]

It can be done. Just look at Domincan Republic what they have done in he last 15 years, they don't have bauxite and they didn't have tourism then.

I could list a few things that would grow Jamaican economy but would the powers that be listen??? That is the problem. Everybody waiting pon Englishman, American and Chiney man to come with their money, instead of building communities and small businesses.