Anthony S. JohnsonTHE NEW decade and century started in Jamaica with a national debate on education. Rightly so. But the real issue to have been addressed was to determine the correct priority in bringing the future generation properly into the 21st Century.
The Minister of Education has put forth the concept of rationalisation which would involve reducing the teaching force by a net 320 teachers, and allow fewer teachers to teach a larger number of children more effectively. Since most people (including experienced educators) believe that the state of our children requires more teachers, not less, this is a non-argument.
The question really should be what is our national priority at the end of the 20th Century? Removing 320 teachers might save $60 million from the Education Budget, and add $40 million to the Pension Budget, for a net saving of $20 million in an education outlay of $17 billion, close to one-tenth of one per cent. The financial saving is irrelevant.
Four other priorities might be suggested for the nation to get behind and support.
1. First, bringing Early Childhood Education into the public system. Study after study has shown that children who get a good start by age 3, will outperform others for the rest of their lives. The studies claim more. The latest findings are that the brain will not absorb certain material easily, if it is not properly stimulated at an early stage.
Since there are some 170,000 children in the age cohort 3-5 years, and since only a handful of the present force of 4,000 or so Basic School teachers have tertiary training, this task will require a larger number of supervisors, trainers, system monitors, plus some excellent experienced teachers. In other words, we need hundreds more teachers to tackle this task effectively.
2. Reducing the illiteracy and innumeracy rate among 10-year-olds. The Ministry of Education currently has short summer courses to bring the 45 per cent of affected students up to mark. No one believes this miracle cure. Jamaican primary schools need to have remedial courses, special courses, extra lessons, plus a range of other innovative interventions to ensure that all the children reaching secondary age, are capable of receiving secondary training.
Since we have not tried this on a mass scale, it is fair to assume that it will need a large cadre of specialist teachers to assist the current, overworked, harassed primary school teachers who have to operate in overcrowded, under-furnished, under-equipped classrooms. Praying and hoping for a miracle is like whistling in the dark, or blowing against a hurricane. We will need more teachers for this mammoth, and absolutely essential task.
3. Special education for children with special challenges. We can no longer afford to accept that large numbers of children do not perform well because of conditions outside the control of the normal teacher and the child. The biggest problem yet identified is that of crisis-scarred children. One study has shown an average of 30 per cent of children have experienced a violent incident, and the literature is quite clear on the effect this has on the learning process of any child if remedial action is not taken.
In addition, thousands of children do not hear or see well, are dyslexic, stutter and have other physical problems.
Those with strong, courageous mothers are given treatment, and usually do quite well. But this is a small per cent of the total numbers needing help, probably not less than 40,000 in addition to the crisis-scarred cases.
4. The fourth alternative as a priority is increasing the level of CXC passes. Jamaica currently lies second or third from the bottom in pass levels in the CXC exams, among the 14 CARICOM territories.
Some schools, like Hampton and Glenmuir are able to boast levels which can compete or beat Barbados. If they can do it, so can the rest of the schools.
This is not just a matter of national shame. In the world of work tomorrow, the unqualified will not have a chance to learn skills, and to fulfil his or her potential.
It is ridiculous to have employers complaining that out of 20 secondary graduates interviewed, only three or four seemed to be fully literate.
Pretending it is not happening will not solve the problem. However, I suspect that this, too, will need more teachers, working with better curricula, under enriched environments.
I invite the nation to consider these challenges for 2001, and hold on to the teachers we have. We are going to need them.
Anthony Johnson is an Opposition Senator.
