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Common Entrance at 50: a revolution in education
Louis EA Moyston
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Common Entrance Examination of 1957 by Norman Manley. This declaration initiated a revolution in education that was embellished by Florizel Glasspole in 1957-58, Edwin Allen in 1963 and Michael Manley in 1973. It is important that we pay attentionto these developments, particularly in this age of globalisation and its impact regarding the "commercialisation" of education. The lessons from Norman Manley and others should not be ignored. What Norman Manley did for secondary education, we should do for the tertiary sector.
At the time of emancipation there were a few elementary schools in Jamaica. They were run by the churches and private individuals. It was the Negro Education Grant of 1835 that expanded this system of private schools in Jamaica. Two schools of education emerged, academic schools for the whites and vocational training for the ex-slaves. Education for the latter was not about "book learning, not pure mathematics, not trigonometry, but habit, training, doctrine, discipline". Of course, this approach to education for black people was informed by racism and the need to sustain the plantation economy. The teacher training colleges functioned as extension for the colonial thinking in preparing teachers for the ex-slave population. Indeed, we must pay tribute to the Jamaica Union of Teachers, an organisation that played a significant political role in transforming education in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Norman Manley was quite a visionary, particularly in the area of education. Shortly after the mass upheavals of 1938, in the following year he began to speak on issues of national proportion. In a 1939 speech, he linked education to national development and called on teachers to help to build a new Jamaica. He said, "My point is that the evidence of the recognition by a people who design to change the face of society that education must be at the centre and heart of every change which has to live in this country. through the force of the educational movement that begins at the earliest age of the child's life and pervades through all the years of its existence, they have created a new spirit which in reality can be made a most terrific and potent engine for change and development." These ideas on education were used to inform education policies in the 1950s and 1960s.
Under the leadership of Norman Manley, his party published a document, "Independence and the People of Jamaica: The Man with the Plan" (circa 1961). This document shows how Manley became more active in advancing his ideas on education. Looking at Jamaica, he described the country in terms of its poverty and also its richness in human resources.
According to the document, "This human material must be. prepared and nurtured to make the best use of their talents for the benefit of themselves and the general advancement of the new society that began to be created in the 1950s must be pursued increasingly in the 1960s.
This is why the PNP government's policy of 'Education for All and Equality of Opportunity' declared in 1949 and implemented in 1957 has stirred deeply the emotions of our people." Indeed, it was these activities and ideas that created this revolution in education. The revolution was continued by education minister Florizel Glasspole in the 1957-1958 period and particularly Edwin Allen in the 1963 reversal of the 30:70 principle, awarding 70 per cent of the scholarships to government primary schools as opposed to the private preparatory schools.
In a newspaper article, "Looking at Common Entrance Exams", AW Sangster (The Gleaner, 1982) puts Common Entrance 1957 into perspective: "Prior to 1957 the entry to grammar and high school was based on the payment of fees. The system of education could therefore be argued to have an element of elitism about it in the sense of the financial ability of a family to pay for their children's education." In addition to the full scholarships there was also the awarding of grant-in-aid places. The latter could be described as half-scholarship. This revolution in education provided the opportunity for more poor and black children to enter high school. The revolution in opportunity to enter secondary schools was increased by Education Minister Edwin Allen's introduction of junior secondary schools. This revolution in secondary education climaxed in May 1, 1973 when Prime Minister Michael Manley announced that education would be free to university level.
What lessons have we learnt from those early leaders? Are we returning to the "old days" regarding the privilege versus the right to education? Is the move to embrace competency-based model of training a return to education for the plantation economy?
Michael Manley's effort to tie our natural resources to education came under fire, but that was the logical thing to do. Look at what the state has given away in terms of land, natural resources and other forms of revenue making. It is full time that we tie our natural resources, land and other state assets to health and education. It is the only wise thing to do. We allowed the opportunity to pass with most or all of the FINSAC assets; we should not lose that opportunity to link Caymanas Park to education. Looking at the TASK Force Report on Reform and Transformation (2005) and the new Caribbean Examination, it is my thinking that our education policy is in the reverse gear.
Let us continue the great tradition, let us do for tertiary education what Norman Manley did for secondary education. We must create new forms of community colleges to provide economical and quality tertiary education for the people of this country. Indeed, the time has come for the educated to seize the opportunities for national development.
Louis EA Moyston is a researcher and lecturer.
Louis EA Moyston
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Common Entrance Examination of 1957 by Norman Manley. This declaration initiated a revolution in education that was embellished by Florizel Glasspole in 1957-58, Edwin Allen in 1963 and Michael Manley in 1973. It is important that we pay attentionto these developments, particularly in this age of globalisation and its impact regarding the "commercialisation" of education. The lessons from Norman Manley and others should not be ignored. What Norman Manley did for secondary education, we should do for the tertiary sector.
At the time of emancipation there were a few elementary schools in Jamaica. They were run by the churches and private individuals. It was the Negro Education Grant of 1835 that expanded this system of private schools in Jamaica. Two schools of education emerged, academic schools for the whites and vocational training for the ex-slaves. Education for the latter was not about "book learning, not pure mathematics, not trigonometry, but habit, training, doctrine, discipline". Of course, this approach to education for black people was informed by racism and the need to sustain the plantation economy. The teacher training colleges functioned as extension for the colonial thinking in preparing teachers for the ex-slave population. Indeed, we must pay tribute to the Jamaica Union of Teachers, an organisation that played a significant political role in transforming education in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Norman Manley was quite a visionary, particularly in the area of education. Shortly after the mass upheavals of 1938, in the following year he began to speak on issues of national proportion. In a 1939 speech, he linked education to national development and called on teachers to help to build a new Jamaica. He said, "My point is that the evidence of the recognition by a people who design to change the face of society that education must be at the centre and heart of every change which has to live in this country. through the force of the educational movement that begins at the earliest age of the child's life and pervades through all the years of its existence, they have created a new spirit which in reality can be made a most terrific and potent engine for change and development." These ideas on education were used to inform education policies in the 1950s and 1960s.
Under the leadership of Norman Manley, his party published a document, "Independence and the People of Jamaica: The Man with the Plan" (circa 1961). This document shows how Manley became more active in advancing his ideas on education. Looking at Jamaica, he described the country in terms of its poverty and also its richness in human resources.
According to the document, "This human material must be. prepared and nurtured to make the best use of their talents for the benefit of themselves and the general advancement of the new society that began to be created in the 1950s must be pursued increasingly in the 1960s.
This is why the PNP government's policy of 'Education for All and Equality of Opportunity' declared in 1949 and implemented in 1957 has stirred deeply the emotions of our people." Indeed, it was these activities and ideas that created this revolution in education. The revolution was continued by education minister Florizel Glasspole in the 1957-1958 period and particularly Edwin Allen in the 1963 reversal of the 30:70 principle, awarding 70 per cent of the scholarships to government primary schools as opposed to the private preparatory schools.
In a newspaper article, "Looking at Common Entrance Exams", AW Sangster (The Gleaner, 1982) puts Common Entrance 1957 into perspective: "Prior to 1957 the entry to grammar and high school was based on the payment of fees. The system of education could therefore be argued to have an element of elitism about it in the sense of the financial ability of a family to pay for their children's education." In addition to the full scholarships there was also the awarding of grant-in-aid places. The latter could be described as half-scholarship. This revolution in education provided the opportunity for more poor and black children to enter high school. The revolution in opportunity to enter secondary schools was increased by Education Minister Edwin Allen's introduction of junior secondary schools. This revolution in secondary education climaxed in May 1, 1973 when Prime Minister Michael Manley announced that education would be free to university level.
What lessons have we learnt from those early leaders? Are we returning to the "old days" regarding the privilege versus the right to education? Is the move to embrace competency-based model of training a return to education for the plantation economy?
Michael Manley's effort to tie our natural resources to education came under fire, but that was the logical thing to do. Look at what the state has given away in terms of land, natural resources and other forms of revenue making. It is full time that we tie our natural resources, land and other state assets to health and education. It is the only wise thing to do. We allowed the opportunity to pass with most or all of the FINSAC assets; we should not lose that opportunity to link Caymanas Park to education. Looking at the TASK Force Report on Reform and Transformation (2005) and the new Caribbean Examination, it is my thinking that our education policy is in the reverse gear.
Let us continue the great tradition, let us do for tertiary education what Norman Manley did for secondary education. We must create new forms of community colleges to provide economical and quality tertiary education for the people of this country. Indeed, the time has come for the educated to seize the opportunities for national development.
Louis EA Moyston is a researcher and lecturer.
LISTEN. Basil Chambers gestures during his recent interview with the OBSERVER WEST. /Photo: Keril Wright.
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