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The big news of the week
published: Friday | September 14, 2007
Heather Robinson
It has been 12 days since the general elections. Many journalists have sought to identify the big stories associated with these elections. For some, it was the fact that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was declared the winner by a narrow margin, but sufficient to have its leader Bruce Golding sworn in as Jamaica's eighth Prime Minister. Meanwhile, some journalists are closely following the magisterial recount for St. Mary South Eastern, while great effort is being made to try to explain what happened to two ballot boxes that were discovered on Monday.
Much attention was also placed on the swearing-in ceremony at King's House, and much is being said about the size and composition of the new Cabinet. But as much as we will talk about these election-related issues, there is a story that was written on the weekend that I believe deserves much more of our attention.
The Sunday Observer of September 9, in its section on career and education, had as its lead item: 'More women, youth at UWI, only 18 per cent of new students are male'. The article states that "The 'feminization' of the region's premier tertiary institution - the University of the West Indies (UWI) - is continuing in earnest with males accounting for only 18 per cent of the new students registered at the Mona campus for the 2007/08 academic year." This is big and bad news.
Women advancing
Many will argue that it is good that 82 per cent of the new students at UWI are female. This points to the decision made by many women to advance themselves educationally and economically. It can perhaps also be argued that women are now brighter than men, or perhaps just more organised and ambitious. Can Jamaica, therefore, reasonably expect to move forward - even with the new Prime Minister's promise of creating an educated and productive workforce - with only 18 per cent of new students at UWI being male.
I have not been able to compare the new enrolment figures for the other universities, but I believe it is reasonable to guess that the situations there might be similar. Recently, I spoke with a mature male student who is pursuing a first degree here in Jamaica, and he confessed that he was the only male in his class of 35 students. Ways must be found to encourage and perhaps reward our young males who are qualified and interested in attending tertiary institutions.
Males misguided
Too many young males believe that their economic salvation will come from a career in the music industry and have, therefore, not spent enough time in preparing themselves for other economic options. Many have managed to get themselves involved in criminal activity, while there are some who lack the energy to work and instead rely on relatives and, in some cases, women.
There is nothing wrong with careers in music, as evidenced by Sean Paul, TOK and Tarrus Riley. But we must begin to spend more time on working to ensure that our young people understand that it is best when one has more than one option from which to choose.
My challenge, therefore, to the new Prime Minister and Minister of Education - both of whom are male graduates of UWI - is to use this 18 per cent enrolment at UWI as their starting point. The development of a specific programme to increase this figure by even an additional five per cent each year will be a welcome start. The 82 per cent that is female will have a hard time finding males with whom they can relate, much more to share a life.
That should be the big news in another five years.
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.
published: Friday | September 14, 2007
Heather Robinson
It has been 12 days since the general elections. Many journalists have sought to identify the big stories associated with these elections. For some, it was the fact that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was declared the winner by a narrow margin, but sufficient to have its leader Bruce Golding sworn in as Jamaica's eighth Prime Minister. Meanwhile, some journalists are closely following the magisterial recount for St. Mary South Eastern, while great effort is being made to try to explain what happened to two ballot boxes that were discovered on Monday.
Much attention was also placed on the swearing-in ceremony at King's House, and much is being said about the size and composition of the new Cabinet. But as much as we will talk about these election-related issues, there is a story that was written on the weekend that I believe deserves much more of our attention.
The Sunday Observer of September 9, in its section on career and education, had as its lead item: 'More women, youth at UWI, only 18 per cent of new students are male'. The article states that "The 'feminization' of the region's premier tertiary institution - the University of the West Indies (UWI) - is continuing in earnest with males accounting for only 18 per cent of the new students registered at the Mona campus for the 2007/08 academic year." This is big and bad news.
Women advancing
Many will argue that it is good that 82 per cent of the new students at UWI are female. This points to the decision made by many women to advance themselves educationally and economically. It can perhaps also be argued that women are now brighter than men, or perhaps just more organised and ambitious. Can Jamaica, therefore, reasonably expect to move forward - even with the new Prime Minister's promise of creating an educated and productive workforce - with only 18 per cent of new students at UWI being male.
I have not been able to compare the new enrolment figures for the other universities, but I believe it is reasonable to guess that the situations there might be similar. Recently, I spoke with a mature male student who is pursuing a first degree here in Jamaica, and he confessed that he was the only male in his class of 35 students. Ways must be found to encourage and perhaps reward our young males who are qualified and interested in attending tertiary institutions.
Males misguided
Too many young males believe that their economic salvation will come from a career in the music industry and have, therefore, not spent enough time in preparing themselves for other economic options. Many have managed to get themselves involved in criminal activity, while there are some who lack the energy to work and instead rely on relatives and, in some cases, women.
There is nothing wrong with careers in music, as evidenced by Sean Paul, TOK and Tarrus Riley. But we must begin to spend more time on working to ensure that our young people understand that it is best when one has more than one option from which to choose.
My challenge, therefore, to the new Prime Minister and Minister of Education - both of whom are male graduates of UWI - is to use this 18 per cent enrolment at UWI as their starting point. The development of a specific programme to increase this figure by even an additional five per cent each year will be a welcome start. The 82 per cent that is female will have a hard time finding males with whom they can relate, much more to share a life.
That should be the big news in another five years.
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.
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